COLOMBO: Pakistan is likely to sell JF-17 Thunder aircraft, a third-generation fighter co-produced by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC), to Sri Lanka.
According to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, the agreement is expected during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Sri Lanka in the first week of January.
Sharif’s upcoming talks in Colombo follow a mid-November visit to Pakistan by Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) commander Air Marshal Gagan Bulathsinhala during which the JF-17 was showcased by the Pakistanis.
Immediately after the visit AM Bulathsinhala was invited to send an evaluation team of technicians and pilots to PAC’s Kamra facilities near Islamabad, where the JF-17 is produced.
Currently the JF-17 is flown only by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), with the first squadron of Block 1 aircraft becoming operational in 2010. In late December 2015, PAC rolled out the 16th of a planned total of 50 Block 2 aircraft to complete the PAF’s fourth JF-17 squadron in service.
