Visitors sit in front of an illustration of a Chinese-made JF-17 fighter jet at Airshow China 2006 in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, on Nov. 1, 2006. (Photo : Getty Images)
Officials from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) command announced Monday at the 14th Dubai Airshow that an upgraded version of the jointly developed JF-17 fighter jet will soon be exported to customers around the globe.
The next generation of the JF-17 "Thunder" combat aircraft will satisfy the growing market demand from third parties, Liu Yu, vice president of China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation, told the international media at the AVIC chalet on the tarmac of Al Maktoum Airport.
Future iterations of the JF-17 will have more advanced capabilities, including aerial refueling, data link and electronic warfare, and support of guided weaponry, said Liu.
A dual-seated fighter/trainer version of the JF-17 is also in the works, he added.
Meanwhile, PAF Air Vice Marshal Arshad Malik expressed confidence that the new version of the jet will go into service by the end of 2016.
Also known as the CAC FC-1 Xiaolong, the JF-17 single-engine multirole fighter is co-manufactured by AVIC and PAF based on the principle of "joint investment, joint development, and sharing risks and returns."
Several parties have already shown interest in procuring the JF-17, with several potential customers conducting or are planning to conduct evaluations of the aircraft in the near future, according to a report from the Global Times.
With its outstanding flight performance, strong operational capability and high performance-to-cost ratio, the JF-17 fighter will be favored by more and more third-party customers, both AVIC and PAF said in a statement.
The 14th Dubai International Airshow officially kicked off in Dubai on Sunday and will run until Thursday, Nov. 12. A large-scale JF-17 model was displayed at the AVIC booth, and a real JF-17 fighter also made aerobatic performances at the event.
