CATIC has entered discussions with up to eight countries about the Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex JF-17 fighter, but political turmoil in the Middle East has delayed a foreign purchase of the aircraft.
Speaking to Flightglobal at the AVIC stand at Airshow China in Zhuhai, CATIC vice-president Zeng Wen says some of the nations could be getting close to signing a contract.This positive attitude mirrors comments by CATIC and Pakistani officials over the last few years.
One Pakistani official, however, says political turmoil following the Arab Spring revolutions in some Middle Eastern nations has delayed take-up of the new type, which is designed to be a cost-effective fighter ideal for the air forces of developing nations.
Zeng adds that CATIC and the Pakistan air force will continue to push for overseas sales, and to attend more air shows. He could not say whether the JF-17 will appear at the Paris air show in June 2015, however.
Pakistan air force
When asked about the heavy promotion of the developmental Shenyang J-31 at the Zhuhai show, Zeng says CATIC is "not involved too much in this aircraft". He expresses similar sentiment about the Xian Y-20 transport, which also appeared at the show.
Longer term, however, he foresees potential for China to sell advanced fighters beyond the JF-17.
"The development of technology will see our customers come to us with upgrade requests," he says. "This kind of high technology, advanced aircraft should meet somebody's request in the future."
As for other types, Zeng confirms that the Hongdu L-15 advanced jet/lead-in fighter trainer has found an export customer. He declines to specify the country or the number of aircraft involved, but Flightglobal's MiliCAS database records the Zambian air force as having six of the type on firm order. Work is being undertaken with the type to increase the range of weapons it can carry.
"I'm confident the L-15 compares favourably to other trainers on the international market, such as the [Korea Aerospace Industries] T-50, the [Alenia Aermacchi] M-346 and the [Irkut] Yak-130," he says.
Zeng adds that there is also strong interest in China's vertical lift products, such as the Harbin Z-9. CATIC's clients are mainly interested in helicopters for search and rescue, counter insurgency and transport missions.
CATIC is a unit of Chinese aerospace conglomerate AVIC. It employs several hundred people and has representatives in 54 countries.
Source: Flight International
