The hype and propaganda surrounding Pakistan's “battle-tested” JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter aircraft, jointly developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC), continues with a Bloomberg report highlighting the issues Pakistan may face in scaling up the production of the fighter jets to meet the alleged increased demand for the jet from various countries.
The Bloomberg report hailed the multirole fighter, claiming that it “scored kills with long-range air-to-air missiles” and called it a “hot commodity,” with at least five countries expressing interest in it.
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The report, however, pointed out that scaling up production could be a problem for Pakistan, which produces fewer than 20 JF-17s per year, as the country previously needed to manufacture the fighter jets only for itself.
Expanding production of the fighter jets would also involve boosting the supply chain outside the country, and according to experts, securing engines from the Russian company UEC Klimov could be a major concern.
However, a Chinese defence expert claimed that this could be a “sweet problem” for Pakistan, as, backed by a strong order book, the country’s defence industry could grow rapidly.
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Wang Ya’nan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, was quoted as saying that while the increased demand may test the production capacity limits of Pakistan, it could be a “sweet problem,” as it would represent a “key step forward for Pakistan,” which was never considered a major defence industry.
“If Pakistan does face capacity shortages, a likely solution could be Chinese assistance in expanding production. This could include increasing production speed or adding new assembly lines — measures that pose no major technical difficulties,” the Global Times quoted Wang as saying.
According to him, it is also possible that Pakistan, which takes care of 58 per cent of production and final assembly, could focus on the final assembly and delivery, while China could play a more important role in manufacturing the major components of the fighter jet.