By Ankit Panda
An Egyptian contract for the JF-17 may have just slipped out of reach for China and Pakistan.
The JF-17 Thunder (also known as the FC-1 Xiaolong) is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation. With a relatively low unit cost of $15-25 million, price is the primary selling point for this capable and versatile jet which Flashpoints‘ Robert Farley has described as conceptually a “modern MiG-21.” Despite the seemingly positive bang-for-buck proposition, the JF-17 has had a hard time finding committed buyers. Indeed, part of the reason that defense procurement programs the world over have shirked the jet is prestige, but additionally, the jet remains largely unproven. While a few states have expressed interest, Pakistan and China received some bad news this week with the news that Egypt — a major regional military — will likely instead go with France’s Rafale and Mirage 2000-series of jets.
As reported by Defense News, Egypt will likely acquire the Mirage fighters (specifically the 2000-9s and refurbished 2000-5s) off the United Arab Emirates, and is also currently in the process of negotiating a contract for 20 Rafale fighters. Egypt has additionally shown interest in the MiG-35. All of these options carry a significantly higher per-unit cost compared to the JF-17. The Rafale starts at around $90 million per unit, a considerably larger sum than the JF-17′s modest asking price. While these jets certainly offer advanced capabilities over the JF-17 to make up for their higher price tags (particularly in the areas of avionics and maneuverability), the JF-17 being passed over will undoubtedly frustrate both China and Pakistan.
Read the full story at The Diplomat