By Franz-Stefan Gady
Chinese-made engines remain a tough sell.
Pakistan will not replace the JF-17’s Russian made Klimov/Sarkisov RD-93 power plant with a new Chinese engine in the foreseeable future despite Chinese reports to the contrary, IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly reveals.
“We are completely satisfied with this Russian-made engine,” a representative of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex recently told IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly. The JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft was jointly developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (PAC/CAC).
PAC even plans to establish a full-scale servicing and overhaul facility for the Klimov/Sarkisov RD-93 engine in Kamra, also known as Aviation City, and the center of aircraft manufacturing in Pakistan.
“What does this tell you?” asked a PAC program officer rhetorically referring to the plans for an overhaul facility , according to IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly. “If the situation was as it has been portrayed at times – that we are just utilizing the RD-93 as a temporary solution until the Chinese can ‘save’ us with their own new engine – then we would not be expending the resources to set up this overhaul base. For us, changing to another engine would not make any sense and would be disruptive and cause a huge expense for the JF-17 program.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat