China hopes to sell up to 300 Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) JF-17 Thunder fighters in Africa and the Middle East over the next five years.This target was revealed by a spokesman from China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), the country’s military aircraft export agency, in an email to Flightglobal.
So far, only Pakistan has ordered the JF-17, with firm orders for 150 examples – Pakistan has said it could buy up to 200. Islamabad is about to equip its third squadron with the type.
“In the next five years, CATIC intends to sell up to 300 JF-17s to several countries in Africa and the Middle East,” says the spokesman.
“CATIC sales and customer support teams are highly motivated and CATIC is looking forward to making the upcoming years fantastic for the JF-17 and its users.”
An industry source in Pakistan who is familiar with the JF-17 programme says joint Chinese/Pakistan sales efforts have made “considerable progress” following the type’s appearance at the Dubai air show in November 2011.
