The delivery of JF-17 fighter jets to Azerbaijan makes the former Soviet republic the fourth country to operate the Chinese-Pakistani military aircraft and represents China’s growing inroads into markets dominated by the US and Russia, analysts said.
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Pakistan’s military announced last week that it had delivered the first batch of JF-17 Block III fighters – part of a US$1.6 billion deal agreed in February that includes aircraft, training and ammunition – during Azerbaijan’s international defence exhibition in Baku.
According to the announcement, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Pakistan’s support “would go a long way” in consolidating the existing military cooperation between the two countries.
The 4.5-generation multirole combat aircraft was co-developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aerospace Corporation and has already been taken up by Myanmar, Nigeria and Iraq.
The Pakistani military said the JF-17 fighter jets were capable of a “wide array of combat missions” and provided “contemporary air power … options” to strengthen Azerbaijan’s “national security paradigm”.
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Pakistan, which accounts for around 60 per cent of China’s arms exports, has 161 JF-17 units in its air force and around 20 J-10C units – the Chinese-made 4.5-generation warplanes that have been compared to the American F-16.