Pakistan’s ‘affordable’ China-developed jet: a victim of its own success?
Pakistan says it has fielded requests for its JF-17 fighter jet from five countries in recent months – a surge of interest that could overwhelm its capacity to jointly produce the jet with China.In the past month,
Iraq,
Bangladesh and
Indonesia have expressed interest in acquiring the JF-17 Thunder, according to Pakistan’s Armed Forces.
Saudi Arabia and
Libya were also exploring the aircraft, Reuters reported separately, after Pakistan hailed the performance of its Chinese-developed jets during its conflict with
India in May 2025.
Pakistan makes fewer than 20 JF-17s per year, and almost all go to its own air force. It is unclear whether Islamabad can expand capacity to meet the sudden demand – key to boosting its ambitions of being an arms maker for the developing world and extending Beijing’s influence in the weapons market.
The JF-17 is seen “as a market disrupter due to its affordable price tag and, more importantly, its recent success in combat”, said Manoj Harjani, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“Not hard to imagine the JF-17 becoming more widely adopted, especially by militaries that cannot afford fighters produced by Western companies.”
