Pakistan and China have agreed to start joint production of a new fighter aircraft intended as a replacement for the ageing French and Chinese aircraft used by Pakistan's air force, a senior Pakistani air force officer said yesterday.
The agreement comes only two months after the US offered to sell F-16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan, reversing sanctions applied almost 15 years ago over Islamabad's nuclear weapons programme.
The move also comes as the US voices concern about the rise of the Chinese military. China passed an anti-secession law in March that would require its military to use force to block any Taiwanese moves towards independence.
Tom Donnelly, defence analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said the new JF-17 would enhance China's ability to intimidate Taiwan and mount an air campaign following a missile attack on the island.
"These are pieces of the puzzle that China are putting together that work together very well in a complementary fashion," said Mr Donnelly. "Each piece per se you would be able to deal with, but it will all complicate a quick US response [to any attack on Taiwan]." The first four of the JF-17 "Thunder" aircraft would be delivered to Pakistan next year for trial flights, while the supply of 150 aircraft would begin in 2007, said Air Vice Marshal Shahid Latif, project director.
China's Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute is the architect of the JF-17 while its prototypes, first flown last year by Pakistani test pilots, were made by the Chengdu Aircraft Company based in Sichuan province.
"The [JF-17] project is not only of strategic importance to the air force but it has far-reaching implications both for the national defence and economic prosperity of Pakistan," Air Vice Marshal Latif said in a rare press briefing.
Pakistan and China were planning to produce at least 400 JF-17 fighters, with the balance of 250 of them on order for China's air force. Pakistani air force officials said half would be produced on an assembly line in China while the other half would be made in Pakistan.
