Wilson John
The Pakistan-China bid to sell Azerbaijan an unspecified number of JF-17 Thunder Block III fighter jets at a whopping cost of $1.6 billion could get into trouble over known mechanical faults with the aircraft and corruption cases against senior Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officials.
The 4.5 generation light weight combat jet is produced jointly by China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex run by Pakistan Air Force–42 per cent in China and 58 per cent in Pakistan. The jet has been in operation with Pakistan Air Force (PAF) since February 2010.
But the deal, said to be Pakistan’s biggest defence export contract, could cause more headaches for Azerbaijan than what has been projected. It may be a cheap bargain but comes with a heavy cost.
The contract with Azerbaijan may be a handsome deal, but it could prove to be a demanding task to fulfill given the internal turmoil within the Pakistan Air Force. Serious allegations of corruption and nepotism against the PAF chief seems to have divided the force.
Considered to be the workhorse of the Pakistan Air Force, JF-17 Block III Thunder has persistently experienced engine trouble, avionics malfunctioning, poor serviceability and maintenance. In fact,the PAF authorities have time and again reminded the concerned Chinese officials about the poor quality of service and maintenance, all of which affects the operational viability of the combat jet.
Between 2011 and 2021, four crashes of JF-17 were reported. The reasons for the crashes remain unknown. But more seriously, an unspecified number of JF- 17s in service remain grounded due to serious malfunctioning of its main engine, the Russian-made RD-93.
Problem with Myanmar deal
Azerbaijan is the third country to buy the Pak-China made JF-17 III Block Thunder. Pakistan had earlier exported the JF-17 to two countries, Nigeria in May 2021 and to Myanmar in 2019-2021. But the experience of Myanmar with the combat jet could indicate the problems Azerbaijan might face. Myanmar had to reportedly ground 11 of the JF-17s due to malfunctioning. The military regime in Myanmar had bought the first set of JF 17s from China and subsequently from Pakistan. After Myanmar authorities complained to the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Army chief, General Asim Munir, a team of Pakistani engineers made a secret visit to Myanmar in September 2023 to service the grounded aircraft. Two years earlier, Pakistan had made a similar attempt to help the Myanmar air force by setting up a simulator at Pathein air base with little success.
Engine and other troubles
The Pakistan Air Force discovered that the JF-17’s Russian engine,Klimov RD-93, had inherent defects, cutting down its operational life and capability. A large number of engines developed cracks on engine guide vanes, exhaust nozzle and frame stabiliser. The airframe was found to be vulnerable to damage, especially in its wingtips and hardpoints, when the aircraft encountered strong gravitational forces. This forced the air force to ground several planes in the recent past.
One of the persistent criticisms levelled against the RD-93 aero engine has been its propensity to emit black smoke which made it an easy target for the enemy pilot. It put the JF-17 pilot at a disadvantage during close aerial combat, the principle reason for the JF 17 induction into the Pakistan Air Force.
The air force also found that the combat aircraft, because of fuel-inefficient engine, had a low loiter time and long-duration combat air patrol (CAP) missions. This is one of the reasons why the air force has been thinking of replacing the engine with the new FADEC RD-33MK engine. No decision has yet been taken in this regard.
In fact, the engine problem bedevilling the JF 17 has become more complicated with China finding it difficult to access spare parts and other assistance from Russia due to sanctions imposed by the US and other western nations. It is reported that China is developing a new engine– Guizhou WS-13 Taishan — to replace the Russian one but it is still to be developed. In all likelihood, China will be more keen on promoting its new engine rather than spending resources on repairing defects in the Russian engines.
But Pakistan is not keen on waiting for the Chinese replacement as it will add to the cost of the machine, taking away one of the key factors which makes the fighter jet a saleable commodity. Pakistan in fact is planning to establish a full-scale servicing and overhaul facility for the Klimov/Sarkisov RD-93 engine in Kamra, also known as Aviation City or export the engine directly from Russia.
The Thunder has issues with avionics also. The combat jet’s key avionics are the KLJ-7 Al radar and Weapon Mission Management Computer (WMMC), both of which have had functional problems. While the KLJ-7 radar has shown degraded behaviour besides operational and maintenance problems, the WMMC has limited capacity and has shown a high rate of failure of a number of its modules, including the Main Computer module. Many of the Myanmar pilots have reported that the functioning of aircraft’s Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) missile or airborne interception radar was below par.
Spare parts and weapons access
Pakistan’s own experience with Chinese weapons has been inordinate delay in procuring spares and fulfilment of maintenance contracts. The western sanction on Russia has affected the sales of JSC Rosoboronexport, the sole state intermediary agency for Russia’s exports and imports of defence-related and dual use products, technologies, and services. This could undermine Pakistan’s attempts to service the JF-17’s Russian engines in the near future. The trade embargo could also affect accessing weapons for the aircraft as Myanmar experienced with European sanctions.
With a serious financial crunch disabling much of Pakistan’s economic activities, maintaining a steady line of spares supply and maintenance for the contracted fleet for Azerbaijan could prove to be a challenging task. Pakistan may be hard pressed to keep the jet in operational effectiveness by updating avionics and weapons systems–retrofitting an older aircraft with modern upgrades could prove to be a time consuming and costly venture, raising serious questions about the viability of Pakistan’s biggest defence deal.
Wilson John is the Editor, The Pakistan Military Monitor (https://thepakmilitarymonitor.com/). He has worked as Senior Fellow with Observer Research Foundation. He was Defence Correspondent for The Pioneer, New Delhi and Investigating Reporter for The Hindustan Times, New Delhi. He has authored over six best-selling books on Pakistan, mostly related to terrorism.
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