*ISLAMABAD – The final three Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) JF-17Thunder Block II multirole combat aircraft are set to be delivered to thePakistan Air Force (PAF) by late June.*
This was announced by PAF Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan during aninterview with *Jane’s*, a foreign magazine.
The aircraft are part of an order placed by the PAF in late 2017 for anadditional 12 platforms that are currently on the Aircraft ManufacturingFactory (AMF) final assembly line at PAC Kamra. AMF has built more than 100JF-17s since the first JF-17 (serialled 09-111) was rolled out in November2009.
[image: PAF, Block II, JF-17, JF-17B, fighter, aircraft, June]
Production of the Block III variant is expected to begin later this yearPAF Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan told Jane’s, adding that theservice “will make a decision on one of the two new Chinese AESA [airborneelectronically scanned-array] radars we are currently evaluating for theseaircraft”.
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He noted that, although supportability and cost will be factors in thedecision, the service hopes to have the aircraft operating with the newradar by March 2020.
The Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology’s KLJ-7A radar isbeing marketed by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC)with air-cooling and liquid-cooling options. The second contender is LeihuaElectronic Technology Research Institute (LETRI), which offers anair-cooling AESA radar known as the LKF601E.
Meanwhile, the Aircraft Repair Factory (ARF) at PAC Kamra recentlycompleted its first 1,000th hour inspection on the first JF-17. This comesafter PAC Kamra and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC),which co-developed the fighter, worked on two JF-17s each to develop theworking procedures.
