Story ID: 362
Block III Thunder Makes International Debut
By: David Donald
Caption: The latest version of the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 has an AESA radar
Word Count: 295
Among the exhibits making their first international air show appearance during Dubai Airshow 2023 is the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC)/Chengdu JF-17 Thunder Block III multirole fighter. The first batch of the modernized variant entered service with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) at the start of March, joining No. 16 “Black Panthers” Squadron. One of them appears on static display at Dubai, where it is accompanied by a pair of Block II aircraft that are sharing flying display duties. The static aircraft carries a range of stores of Chinese and U.S./Pakistani origin, including the C-802AK anti-ship missile and ASEL targeting pod.
PAC—which is responsible for final assembly and 58 percent of construction—has built 50 Block I aircraft and 62 in Block II, the first of which entered service in 2010 and the last of which went to the PAF in June 2019. Both versions feature the Chinese KLJ-7 X-band mechanically scanned radar. The Block II introduced several improvements, including inflight refueling capability. Included in the Block II production run are 26 JF-17B two-seaters, the first four of which Chengdu in China completed.
The latest Block III, of which Pakistan expects to procure at least 50, represents a major modernization of the aircraft. It features a new quad-redundant three-axis digital flight control system and revised avionics with a helmet-mounted display/sight and a wide-angle head-up display. It also employs an enhanced electronic defensive suite, including mission approach warning. The most important change is the introduction of the KLJ-7A active electronically scanned array radar, which significantly increases air target detection and tracking.
Chengdu flew the first of two Block III prototypes on December 15, 2019, and the latest Thunder variant went into series production at PAC’s Kamra facility at the end of 2020.