ATTOCK, Nov 17 The first multi-role JF-17 Thunder jet fighter, jointly developed with China, produced at the Aircraft Manufacturing Factory (AMF) of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex will roll out in Kamra, Attock on Nov 23.
This would be a milestone, marking the fulfilment of Pakistan Air Force's goals of achieving self-sufficiency and strengthening its fighting capability, ISPR said on Tuesday.
The ceremony for handing over the aircraft would be held in December after the formation of a full JF-17 squadron.
The final assembly of the aircraft began on June 30 in the presence of Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman.
The JF-17 aircraft, which will replace PAF's ageing fleet of A-5s, F-7s and Mirages, will be armed with an array of conventional and precision-guided bombs, short- and beyond-visual-range air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, enabling the air force to carry out day and night operations.
Kamra's AMF started maintenance, repair and overhaul of Chinese-built aircraft in 1972 and progressed to become the country's only aircraft manufacturing facility in 1975 by assembling Mushak and Super Mushak aircraft under licence from Sweden's Saab Scania. Later, it began producing aerial target drones.
The turning point came when the factory took part in the design, development and co-production of the Karakoram-8 aircraft with China.
The offer for joint development of a fighter aircraft was made to by the Chinese in 1992.
The JF-17 project started in 1995 with the establishment of the JF-17 Programme Management Office (PMO) at the Air Headquarters, which finalised air staff requirements, outlining the aircraft's operational capability and performance characteristics, besides negotiating the contract for co-development activity. In 1998, a memorandum of understanding was signed for co-development and co-production.
Since then, the JF-17 PMO is managing all aspects of design and development process and is overseeing the complete process till its final certification.
JF-17's development contract was signed in June 1999, but sanctions slapped after October 1999 caused a setback and it was feared that the programme might be suspended.
A new approach was adopted in January 2001, giving the project a fresh impetus. As a result, the first prototype aircraft was completed in just 30 months, an unprecedented achievement in any modern jet fighter programme.
JF-17's maiden flight was undertaken on Sept 3, 2003, in Chengdu, China.
Two aircraft of the small batch production were received by Pakistan on March 21, 2007, at PAC, Kamra. These aircraft participated in the March 23, 2007 fly-past.
On Jan 22, last year, a ceremony was held to launch the manufacturing of JF-17 Thunder's sub-assemblies.
At present, the PAF has eight JF-17s after it received six aircraft in March last year for testing and evaluation. These aircraft took part in the fly-past on Pakistan Day last year.
