JF-17 Thunder stunned the world in Dubai Air show

Lahore: Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force attended the inaugural ceremony of Dubai Air Show-2013.  A large number of delegations from different countries including Air Chiefs of a number of Air Forces were also present at the occasion.

The Dubai Air Show was inaugurated by His Excellency Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of UAE today.  JF-17 Thunder and Super Mushshak aircraft of Pakistan Air Force have been put up for static as well as aerial display in the Air Show.

 Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for Defence Production also visited the air show and met with Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force. JF-17 Thunder was the main attraction of the event and defence delegations from all over the World showed their interest in this multi-role, cost effective combat aircraft of the 21^st century.

Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force also visited various stalls at the show and met with high ranking officials of the air forces of various countries. The Air Chief had a meeting with Mr. Li Yuhai, Central Executive Vice President of Aviation Industry of China and discussed matters regarding the performance of JF-17 Thunder. The most awaited aerial display could not be conducted due to dust storm and the flight control committee of the show decided to postpone it for a day.

Pakistan Air Force has inducted JF-17 Thunder in its fleet and with the co-production in full swing the aircraft are rolling out from Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra. The JF-17 Programme has been a success story since its inception in 1998. Developmental work on the aircraft commenced in the year-1999 and detailed design was finalized in September, 2001.

After flight testing, a Small Batch of 08 aircraft was produced in year-2007 and finally serial co-production of the aircraft started in Pakistan in the Year-2009.  So far PAF’s two Squadrons have been equipped with JF-17 Thunders, while the third is planned to be raised by next year.