Azerbaijan’s president has claimed that the Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) JF-17 fighter is “integrated” into the country’s air force.
A statement released on 25 September by Azerbaijani President Ilyam Aliyev details how he was “presented” with the aircraft at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev international airport, as part of the recent Azerbaijan Defence Exhibition show.
“The jets have already been integrated into the arsenal of Azerbaijan’s air force,” said the president’s office and Azerbaijan defence ministry, without offering further details.
Curiously, the aircraft Aliyev viewed did not bear Azerbaijani markings but was one of two Pakistan air force JF-17s dispatched to the show along with an Ilyushin Il-78MP tanker. Aliyev had requested that the JF-17 be sent to the show during a previous visit to Pakistan.
News agency Reuters, citing the Pakistani military, says that Azerbaijan has signed a contract for the aircraft.
In addition, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra published a video from social media with the tagline “Azerbaijan becomes 4th official operator of JF-17.”
FlightGlobal has reached out to Azerbaijani and Pakistani officials for clarification about the JF-17 news.
Apart from the “integration” remark published by Azerbaijan, images and video footage from Azerbaijani and Pakistani officials make no mention of an order, but detail Aliyev’s viewing of the aircraft on static display. He is shown sitting in the jet’s cockpit and also observing a flight demonstration.
The press information about Aliyev’s JF-17 interaction focuses on the Block III version of the single-engined fighter, which was jointly developed by China and Pakistan.
A key improvement with the Block III is the incorporation of an active electronically scanned array radar in the form of the KLJ-7A, developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology (NRIET).
NRIET has said that the KLJ-7A can track dozens of targets simultaneously and is highly resistant to jamming.
The aircraft is powered by a single Klimov RD-93 engine. The type is, however, likely to get a Chinese-made engine in the form of the Guizhou WS-13 Taishan.
Despite being pitched as a low-cost fighter option for developing nations, the JF-17 has secured relatively few foreign sales. Prior to the Azerbaijan news, the type’s only customers were Pakistan, Myanmar, and Nigeria.
