Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra formally handed over three JF-17 Thunder aircraft to Nigerian Air Force, during a graceful ceremony held at Nigerian Air Force Base, Makudri on Friday. According to reports, Nigerian Defence Minister Major General (R) Bashir Magashi was the Guest of Honour, at the occasion, whereas Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force Air Marshal Syed Noman Ali was invited to attend the ceremony as special guest of Nigerian Air Force. Addressing the ceremony, the Defence Minister of Nigeria expressed his gratitude to Pakistan and PAF for sustained bilateral cooperation and partnership for enhancing Nigerian Air Force capabilities to meet Nigeria’s security challenges. While, Air Marshal Syed Noman Ali said that today’s event was not only a historical landmark for Pakistan’s JF-17 programme but was also a reflection of strong military cooperation and mutual trust between Nigeria and Pakistan. According to him, the JF-17 aircraft with its unique fighting capabilities would prove to be a potent platform in addressing the security Challenges of Nigeria. He also assured that Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex would continue to provide all out support to Nigerian Air Force in meeting all its requirements. JF-17 thunder is a landmark achievement of Pakistan- China joint venture of PAC Kamra and Chengdu Aerospace Corporation of China. It is lightweight, single engine and multirole combat aircraft. Being a lightweight aircraft JF-17 is capable of carrying heavy payload including short and medium range air to air missiles, bombs to hit ground targets, anti-ship and anti-radiation missiles, anti-runway bombs and other sophisticated weaponry. Its state-of-the-art avionics and extreme maneuverability had attracted attention of most of the developing countries of Asia, Africa, and middle East. In fact, attracting customers and receiving purchase order for the first product of its kind by a growing aviation industry is not a common phenomenon, PAF and PAC are admirable for their achievement. Several Countries had expressed interests in purchase of JF-17 thunder aircrafts to fulfil their security needs such as Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Kuwait, Malaysia, Iran, Lebanon, Algeria, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, and Azerbaijan. Pakistan and Nigeria had signed the deal of unknown number of JF-17 fighter jets during August 2016 and first batch comprising of three JF-17 fighter jets had been delivered to Nigerian Air Force on Friday, 21 May 2021.
Similarly, purchase orders of several other countries are in pipeline.
According to reports, Ukraine, a militarily self-sufficient European nation is also considering replacing its old fleet of Mig-29s and SU-37s with JF-17 thunder aircrafts. A high-level delegation of Ukrainian Air Force had visited PAC Kamra during April 2020 and examined the aircraft. The key role played by JF-17 thunder during dog fight in “Operation Swift Retort” against India over Line of Control (LoC) in February 2019 had made it more popular among the Air Forces in the region. Presently, Pakistan is using two variants of JF-17, Block I and Block II, whereas Block III is under production.
Luckily, Pakistan’s endeavors for attaining self-sufficiency in its defense needs had proved to successful and currently, it is not only fulfilling its domestic requirements but also able to export its products such as Mushak light aircraft, K-8 advance trainer and JF-17 thunder, tanks, armored vehicle and other ammunition to its friendly countries. It is advisable that Pakistan must focus on this arena to enhance its manufacturing capabilities to increase its export on large scale to earn money for the country.
