Pakistan Air Force | News & Discussions

[ghazi52]

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[ghazi52]

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[Princeps]

Someone needs to tell DGPR people that if you are gonna use ChatGPT, at least remove the em dashes, they are a clear giveaway

 

[Yasser76]

Still a mystery why the President of the UAE would fly on Dubai's Commercial Airliner - when the Capital (Abu Dhabi) has its own National Carrier (Etihad).

More importantly, the man has a fleet of his own Private Planes.

It is a great ad for Emirates.

 

[SABRE]

Still a mystery why the President of the UAE would fly on Dubai's Commercial Airliner - when the Capital (Abu Dhabi) has its own National Carrier (Etihad).

More importantly, the man has a fleet of his own Private Planes.

It could just be a symbolic gesture and nothing more. Emirates could be presented as a symbol of Pakistan–UAE cooperation, given that Pakistan/PIA played an important early role in helping the airline get off the ground. Today, Emirates is not only the UAE’s leading airline but also the world’s largest international carrier.

 

[Fatman17]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2025/12/28/why-it-took-pakistan-so-long-to-sell-jf-17-fighters-to-an-arab-country/

 

[Yasser76]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2025/12/28/why-it-took-pakistan-so-long-to-sell-jf-17-fighters-to-an-arab-country/

We have done so well, that only western/Indian critism is now "we took long" for fighter sales.

 

[ghazi52]

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[ghazi52]

Why It Took Pakistan So Long To Sell JF-17 Fighters To An Arab Country​

By Paul Iddon,
Senior Contributor.
Dec 28, 2025,

Pakistan's Air Force fighter JF-17 fighter jets fly past during the multinational naval exercise AMAN-25 in the Arabian Sea near Pakistan's port city of Karachi on February 10, 2025, as more than 50 countries participating with ships and observers. (Photo by ASIF HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images)...

It has been a good year for Pakistan in terms of lucrative export contracts for the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, which it jointly developed with China. Earlier in the year, Islamabad secured a deal to sell 40 JF-17C Block IIIs to Azerbaijan as part of a landmark $4.6 billion defense agreement. In another boon for Pakistani arms exports, Reuters reported on Dec. 22 that Pakistan reached another $4-4.6 billion deal with a powerful faction in the divided North African country of Libya. That deal includes the supply of 16 JF-17s and other military equipment to the Libyan National Army group commanded by Khalifa Haftar that controls eastern Libya.

The controversial deal—Libya remains under a highly ineffective United Nations arms embargo—could mark Pakistan’s first-ever sale of the 4.5-generation fighter jet to an Arab country. Given that Pakistan has good relations and even alliances with Arab countries that spend heavily on arms, why did it take so long for one of them to buy its combat-proven warplane?

According to the Reuters report, the Libyan deal includes 16 JF-17s, 12 Super Mushak trainer aircraft, and other unspecified equipment for air, land, and sea, to be delivered within the next two-and-a-half years. The LNA has confirmed that it entered into what it called a defense cooperation pact with Pakistan that included arms transfers and joint training. The LNA controls Libya’s east and south, including the second city of Benghazi. It has a parliament, the House of Representatives, in Tobruk. The UN-recognized government remains the one in the capital, Tripoli. Haftar’s LNA besieged Tripoli in 2019-20 before being repelled by government forces with assistance from Turkey, which had deployed armed drones. The country has remained de facto divided ever since.

Libya’s air force was already largely antiquated before the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that resulted in a civil war and the deposing of long-time Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi in an armed rebellion backed by U.S. and NATO airstrikes. Russia notably sent unmarked fourth-generation MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets to the LNA-controlled Al Jufra in mid-2020 following the LNA’s Turkish-backed rout from Tripoli.

At present, an LNA acquisition of over a dozen JF-17s would give it a game-changing advantage in air power over its rival in Tripoli, especially if the UN-recognized government doesn’t make any acquisitions in the next two years. The latest JF-17Cs are equipped with active electronically scanned array radars and are compatible with China’s long-range PL-15E air-to-air missile, which downed at least one of India’s French-made Dassault Rafales in clashes last May. The multirole Sino-Pakistani fighter-bomber is combat-proven in both air-to-air and air-to-ground engagements.

Tripoli’s patron, Turkey, has supplied it with Bayraktar TB2 and advanced Akinci combat drones. Libya also ordered Turkey’s Hurkus-C turboprop trainer and ground-attack aircraft in 2022. None of these adequately substitutes for 4.5-generation combat aircraft like the JF-17C.

It’s worth recalling that the last time Libya tried to upgrade its fighter fleet was a multi-billion-euro deal for 14 Rafales in the late 2000s. The French government of Nicolas Sarkozy was eager for Tripoli to buy his country’s premier jet, which hadn’t yet won a single export contract at that time. Ultimately, the Arab Spring and Gaddafi’s subsequent killing dashed any hopes for a Libyan sale. Sarkozy was imprisoned this year for conspiracy related to the funding of his 2007 election campaign with money from Gaddafi.

 

[ghazi52]

Islamabad undoubtedly sees the Middle East and North Africa region as a market for the JF-17 and, like France with the Rafale, would've liked to have exported the fighter sooner and to more countries.

Pakistani Air Force JF-17Cs participated in Saudi Arabia’s Spears of Victory-2025 exercise at the start of the year. For the exercise, the JF-17s flew from their base in Pakistan to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdul Aziz Air Base. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations hailed that non-stop flight as demonstrative of the JF-17’s “long-range operational capabilities.”

Israel’s Sept. 9 missile strike targeting Hamas political leaders in Qatar’s capital, Doha, left Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab Gulf states shaken.

The kingdom promptly established a new defense pact with Pakistan. Under that pact, both sides vowed to deepen cooperation in November. That coincided with the Dubai Airshow 2025, where the Pakistani military announced that a “friendly country” had signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire the JF-17, without specifying which one.

Despite Pakistan showcasing the JF-17 in the kingdom and at the Dubai Airshow, Saudi Arabia was an unlikely candidate. After all, Riyadh seeks additional Eurofighters, has recently considered buying 54 Rafales, and wants as many as 48 fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth strike fighters from the United States.

Furthermore, according to an unclassified annual Pentagon report to Congress on China’s military released on Dec. 23, Saudi Arabia is among three “interested clients” in China’s fifth-generation FC-31, also known as the Shenyang J-35. Buying 4.5-generation JF-17s on top of all of that could be too much, even for such a wealthy country.

Nevertheless, in the mid-2010s, Saudi Arabia was reportedly considering becoming a partner in the JF-17 program as part of an arrangement that would include co-production and technology transfer.

More recently, Riyadh has sought to partner with the UK, Italy, and Japan in the Global Combat Air Programme developing a sixth-generation stealth fighter.

Neighboring Qatar similarly has no shortage of comparable 4.5-generation fighters, having acquired almost 100 of three different types in less than a decade and would also like F-35s. The UAE opted out of an F-35 deal in 2021 and promptly ordered 80 Rafales F4s instead. The Pentagon also cites the UAE among its “interested clients” in the FC-31.

Iraq was a much more likely candidate to become the first Arab country to buy the JF-17. Recurring reports since at least 2021 indicate that Baghdad has at least considered buying a dozen for $664 million. Iraq already has a fleet of 34 F-16s, which suffered chronic maintenance issues in the early 2020s, grounding much of the fleet.

Baghdad has also shown interest in buying 14 Dassault Rafales—it may ultimately buy both. Notably, the Pentagon report states that China is negotiating a JF-17 sale to Iraq as of 2024. Unlike Pakistan, China doesn’t use the JF-17 in its air force.

The JF-17C is cheaper than Western 4.5-generation fighters, which might make it a more attractive option for countries like Iraq, which have less to spend on combat aircraft than those ultra wealthy Gulf states.

 

[ghazi52]

Iraq’s neighbor, Turkey, is, of course, not an Arab country but is in the Middle East and has close military ties with Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

However, Ankara recently chose the Eurofighter Typhoon to fulfill its stopgap requirement for 4.5-generation fighters as part of a multi-billion-pound deal with the United Kingdom.

Turkey also seeks 40 F-35s and is developing a domestic stealth jet, the TF Kaan, which it also hopes to offer for export. Consequently, a Turkish acquisition of JF-17s seems highly unlikely.

A Syrian acquisition is also unlikely, although for much different reasons. Israel destroyed the remnants of Syria’s moribund air force in December 2024 after the Assad regime finally collapsed after years of catastrophic civil war.

Turkey is poised to play a central and critical role in building Syria’s new military, including its air defense. While Turkey may welcome a Pakistani-Syrian JF-17 deal, Israel definitely would not and could even preemptively destroy any Pakistan delivers.

Damascus cannot afford to buy such advanced aircraft anytime soon anyway. It’s more likely Turkey will eventually help Syria rebuild its air force gradually with more basic aircraft, perhaps its homegrown Hurkus, which it supplied to Libya, or even the Hurjet advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft.

Jordan operates an all-American air force and recently made an order for advanced F-16 Block 72 fighters. Therefore, Amman is unlikely to turn to Pakistan for fighters anytime soon.

 

[ghazi52]

Egypt previously expressed interest in JF-17s in the mid-2010s, which surprised analysts at the time, given Cairo’s orders for French and Russian fighters. Much more recently, Cairo has shown interest in potentially acquiring China’s advanced 4.5-generation Chengdu J-10C Vigorous Dragon, of which Pakistan is presently the only foreign operator. Recent joint exercises between the Egyptian and Chinese air forces on the latter’s soil, featuring J-10Cs, have heightened speculation that Egypt may opt for the Chinese jet.

Cairo may well use a potential J-10C as leverage with the U.S. to acquire F-15s and more advanced, long-range air-to-air missiles at long last.

Additionally, that annual Pentagon report states that Egypt is interested in potentially acquiring the J-10C or the FC-31. It’s worth recalling that Egypt previously sought 20 F-35As during the first Trump administration, but no deal materialized due to strong opposition from the Department of Defense and Israel. As a result, the Chinese stealth jet may prove Cairo’s only other viable option for acquiring a fifth-generation fighter.

Upon taking into account all of these concluded and pending fighter acquisitions across the region, Libya’s emergence as the first Arab country to buy the JF-17 from Pakistan is a lot less surprising than it may otherwise seem.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2025/12/28/why-it-took-pakistan-so-long-to-sell-jf-17-fighters-to-an-arab-country/

 

[Fatman17]

Duplicate thread

 

[Dreamer]

Egypt previously expressed interest in JF-17s in the mid-2010s, which surprised analysts at the time, given Cairo’s orders for French and Russian fighters. Much more recently, Cairo has shown interest in potentially acquiring China’s advanced 4.5-generation Chengdu J-10C Vigorous Dragon, of which Pakistan is presently the only foreign operator. Recent joint exercises between the Egyptian and Chinese air forces on the latter’s soil, featuring J-10Cs, have heightened speculation that Egypt may opt for the Chinese jet.

Cairo may well use a potential J-10C as leverage with the U.S. to acquire F-15s and more advanced, long-range air-to-air missiles at long last.

Additionally, that annual Pentagon report states that Egypt is interested in potentially acquiring the J-10C or the FC-31. It’s worth recalling that Egypt previously sought 20 F-35As during the first Trump administration, but no deal materialized due to strong opposition from the Department of Defense and Israel. As a result, the Chinese stealth jet may prove Cairo’s only other viable option for acquiring a fifth-generation fighter.

Upon taking into account all of these concluded and pending fighter acquisitions across the region, Libya’s emergence as the first Arab country to buy the JF-17 from Pakistan is a lot less surprising than it may otherwise seem.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2025/12/28/why-it-took-pakistan-so-long-to-sell-jf-17-fighters-to-an-arab-country/

Are we taking this as confirmed news then? I thought it was only rumours....
Personally I still don't believe this.

 

[Fatman17]

Source: Army Recognition
https://search.app/J35Rt

Saab 2000 induction in 2009 transformed the PAF