Pakistan

Pakistan to offer JF-17 jets to Bulgaria

If Bulgarian government decides to acquire the jets, Pakistan would become aircraft’s first foreign operator

Web Desk March 11, 2015

PHOTO: ONLINE

WARSAW: Pakistan plans on offering its PAC JF-17 Thunder fighter jets to Bulgaria in a bid to acquire 16 combat aircraft for its military, reports Defene News.

According to Bulgarian news agency Nevinite, the Bulgarian Air Force is aiming to replace its outdated Soviet-designed Mikoyan MiG-21 aircraft.

Up till now, Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry has shortlisted three offers which include US bid of F-16s, Eurofighter Typhoon and Sweden’s Gripen.

Recently, Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolai Nenchev said he aimed to visit the United States in the first quarter of 2015 to discuss potential procurement.

JF-17’s first prototype was launched in May 2003. Since then, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aircraft have been jointly producing the jet since 2007.

If the Bulgarian government decides to acquire the JF-17, Pakistan would become the aircraft’s first foreign operator.

The aircraft is enabled with a service ceiling of 55,500 feet and a maximum speed of 700 knots, according to data released by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.

The Islamabad-based manufacturer says that the fighter jet's glass cockpit and hands-on throttle and stick controls reduce pilot workload, and it can be armed with beyond-visual-range active missiles with a range of 70 to 100 kilometers, and highly agile imaging infrared short-range missiles.

COMMENTS (18)

IndianDude | 9 years ago | Reply @blitzkrieg Today we have our own indeginous offense drones and cruise missiles. India buys it from other countries. U just need a moqa.. Funny! With all the jokes and green paints aside, how are your drones and jf17 working out againsts your own 'strategic' children? In the entire history of Pakistan,, your army and your weapons have enabled to be victirious in capturing your own people and country, to killed more Pakistanis than your enemies. We have nothing to worry about. P.S. Tejas was a failure but you don't see us boasting as super-duper state of the art fighter. Whereas jf17 is a chinese copy of mig21 assembled and painted in Pakistan, even chinese dont use it. Seriously, do you think a country who can't even build a two stroke scooter or a crappy car is going to design and build a state-of-the-art fighter jet?

blitzkrieg | 9 years ago | Reply @IndianDude: 100 times better than ur teja which ur own airforce doesn't want to fly.... Russia has no issues with with this sell. We have the reselling rights. And as far as speed is concerned and what do u wana say comparing its speed with a boeing..f16 has around same speed 1600 mph. so don't make a fool of ur self. Today we have our own indeginous offense drones and cruise missiles. India buys it from other countries. U just need a moqa..

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IndianDude | 9 years ago | Reply @Ahmed, Are you mad , Ahmed? Read the article before tou comment, I merely quoted from it. "People please dont fall for the indian garbage that diverted the discussion to mig21. these planes took decades of planning and testing and have proven themselves to be far better performing compared to other fighters in this class. The max. speed of jf-17 is Mach 1.7 (roughly 1700 km/h)." Straight from the article! "..The aircraft is enabled with a service ceiling of 55,500 feet and a maximum speed of 700 knots, according to data released by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex..."

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply People please dont fall for the indian garbage that diverted the discussion to mig21. these planes took decades of planning and testing and have proven themselves to be far better performing compared to other fighters in this class. The max. speed of jf-17 is Mach 1.7 (roughly 1700 km/h).

IndianDude | 9 years ago | Reply ...The aircraft is enabled with a service ceiling of 55,500 feet and a maximum speed of 700 knots, according to data released by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex... jf-17's speed of 700 knots is approx. 800mph..Boeing 777 the passenger plane, can fly about 600mph and at more than 55,000 ft....no wonder the even chinese don't use their state of the art mig21..err...jf-17

Qasim | 9 years ago | Reply Saying the JF-17 is similar to a MiG-21 is like comparing the F-22 to a Cessna-150. They both fly, but their capabilities vastly differ. The JF-17 can engage targets at BVR range, and is compatible with China's latest weaponry, the same air-to-air and air-to-ground and anti-ship missiles China's stealth aircraft utilize. It's KLJ-07 radar is based on their frontline J-10 aircraft's radar. It has been paired with China's latest "carrier-killer" missile, to neutralize India's bulky aircraft carriers at sea, in any warfare scenario.

zara | 9 years ago | Reply @Adnan Siddiqi: Thanx for pointing out. As they are vying for export since last two years, there must have been some alternative under consideration. Acha bhai yey parhain, "The JF-17 is powered by the Russian-made RD-93 turbofan engine, although there have been reports that later aircraft may be powered by a Chinese-made engine due to Russian concerns that the JF-17 would compete for international sales with its own MIG-29 Fulcrum." source :http://thediplomat.com/2013/10/pakistan-to-begin-exporting-jf-17-thunder-fighter-jets/ Old news though.

Adnan Siddiqi | 9 years ago | Reply @zara: Russia has authorized export of these engines to Pakistan, not for Pakistan to re-export them to another country. Bottom line is that unless this aircraft is wholly build in Pakistan including its engine, no one would want to buy it from PAC Kamra which simply assembles it.

zara | 9 years ago | Reply @JD: Which should be good. And a litmus test. You know faulty jets could be grounded or refunded. And no purchase is finalized unless product is well tested out. So if it turns out well ,it will attract more buyers from poor or medium wealth countries. Flaws coming out is good, teaches you where to improve,

zara | 9 years ago | Reply @Adnan Siddiqi: Pakistan is already in talks in getting engine liscence directly from russia. http://tribune.com.pk/story/838596/jf-17-thunder-govt-to-buy-jet-engines-directly-from-russia/ Some cheap indians never stop comparing j10 and jf 17 with each other. If china has a better aircraft and it doesn't need jf 17, then it doesn't make jf 17 a poor performing jet.

Ali | 9 years ago | Reply Up till now, Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry has shortlisted three offers which include US bid of F-16s, Eurofighter Typhoon and Sweden’s Gripen. So who says they are going to buy JF 17?

Arsalan | 9 years ago | Reply

If the Bulgarian government decides to acquire the JF-17, Pakistan would become the aircraft’s first foreign operator

Shouldn't it be "Bulgaria would become the aircraft’s first foreign operator"? We are talking about JF-17 here.

Adnan Siddiqi | 9 years ago | Reply Not possible unless China builds them and sell them directly to Bulgaria. The engines itself are a licensed version of Russian RD-33 and this license has been granted to China, not Pakistan. Hence Pakistan would have to seek Russian approval to sell this aircraft with the engines, unless Bulgaria will only buy the shell and purchase the engines from other sources.

Shakeel | 9 years ago | Reply Some of the comments by the Indian trolls really are ridiculous. Most of these people wouldn't recognise a Mig-21 if it was hurtling out of the sky towards them. Anyone with a very basic understanding of avionics can understand the astonishing stupidity in these comments. The JF-17 was intended as a lightweight cheap 4th generation fighter, with the primary purpose of air defence. The reason the Chinese have not bought any (despite building it) is because they don't need it. Their basic fighter will be the J-10, which can carry more bombs, carry them further, has a larger radar (therefore can detect enemies earlier) than the JF-17. It also costs twice as much. It's like the difference between a Volkwagen and an Audi, rather than the difference between an F-1 car and a Tata Nano. Unfortunately our Indian audience is used to domesticaly produced junk which is then never purchased. Perhaps the likes of taimur flyboy and his fanboys will shed some light of the success (or utter lack of) the LCA (Tejas) which the Indian airforce itself has rejected multiple times, or the Arjun tank (which the Indian army rejected). Or maybe they'll tell you about the SU-30MKI which they only had to assemble, but has been grounded most of it's service life. The sale of JF-17 is tricky. Buying a fighter jet is not like buying a car. You have to consider the changes to your airforce and the infrastructure. Will it be able to communicate with existing systems in place, how much re-training of engineers will be required, will new facilities and machinery be required to house/maintain the aircraft? Poor countries typically have either Russian fighter jets or American ones, they need to consider all these costs (plus the political impact) of moving to what is essentially a Chinese system. Richer countries can simply afford to buy better systems.

Humza | 9 years ago | Reply @taimur flyboy: It's hardly like the Mig 21 in any way shape or form. It's a light weight low cost alternative which has received good reviews all around except from Indians like you.

Khan | 9 years ago | Reply May Allah bless Pakistan in its effort. Ameen. JF17 is pride of Pakistan Airforce.

JD | 9 years ago | Reply JF-17 versus F-16's and Euro Typhoons? The only reason they'd prefer JF-17 is because of the price. But it is also a serious test for Pakistan. The problems with this plane can be kept under wraps within the country but if a foreign country buys it, its performance will be highly scrutinized.

taimur flyboy | 9 years ago | Reply It is glorified version of mig 21, even china has rejected it for its airforce . If Bulgaria buys it rejecting other three ( F16, eurofighter) , it will be biggest coup of 21 century. Hope they are not buying for practice of their ZU 23 OR olgas( SAMs).

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