JF-17 Thunder finds new buyer at Dubai Airshow: report
The contract has been signed with an unidentified buyer.
BEIJING (Web Desk) - The JF-17 Thunder, a fourth-generation fighter jet co-developed by China and Pakistan, has found a buyer at 14th Dubai Airshow.
The aircraft’s developers, Aviation Industry Corp of China and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, signed a contract with an unidentified buyer, AVIC said in a statement sent to China Daily on Tuesday.
It did not elaborate on when the contract was signed or how many jets are to be sold. The Pakistan Air Force is the only user of the lightweight, multi-purpose combat aircraft, with 60 in active service.
"Now it has a new buyer. Moreover, several potential buyers have expressed to us their strong intention of introducing the aircraft, and they have performed comprehensive assessments of the plane," Liu Yu, deputy head of AVIC’s military aircraft trade wing, was quoted in the statement as saying at a news conference in Dubai on Monday.
About 1,100 exhibitors from more than 60 countries are attending the ongoing 14th Dubai Airshow, which opened on Sunday in the United Arab Emirates.
This is the first time an AVIC official has confirmed the new contract.
Air Vice-Marshal Arshad Malik, vice-chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, said at news conference that the aircraft demonstrated strong combat capability through various drills.
Forty jets will be delivered to the Pakistan Air Force in the near future, he said.
JF-17 aircraft has already participated in various air shows of the world including Farnborough Air Show in UK, Zhuhai Air Show in China, Turkish Air Show at Turkey and Dubai Air Show in UAE.
The multi role all-weather JF-17 Thunder is highly maneuverable light combat aircraft with fly by wire flight control.
