Not exactly a blunder IMO. JF-17 Blk3 (when it comes) has allowed PAF to get a 4+ gen jet at a low price which allows them to replace many of their old useless jets. Even the Blk2 has helped them to replace many of their jets. The blunder seems to be with respect to their thought that JF-17 will be sufficient to counter all of IAF assets upto MKIs - this didn't happen too well. This line of greatness of JF-17 has been peddled in their social media networks. It's quite similar to what we thought about the greatness of our MKIs till Feb 27 happened - we now know that the MKIs are in need of an urgent MLU.
Pakistan AirForce : Updates & Discussions
- Thread starter Ashwin
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Actually, it solidified its position after that. What it was missing then was a more modern BVR missile. The one on it during Balakot was already 20+ years old. The MLU is needed to counter China. The current MKI is still more advanced than what PAF possesses.
JF17 was purchased to replace Chinese Mig 21 copies (F7]. And Block 2 also gave them additional capability to fire BVRAAMs and some multirole capability.
Block 3 is focused on Air superiority and can do the job of F16 block 52.
And without BVRAAM and Radar upgrades Mig 29, Su 30, M2000 and LCA mk 1 are at risk.
BTW IAF too was supposed to replace Mig 21 with LCA Tejas many decades ago. But thanks to HAL/ADA over promising and under delivering compounded with IAF’s historical brochuritis and love for imported products, they are still flying Mig 21 most of which are even older than F7s of PAF.
First batch of BLOCK 3 out for flight tests, before handover.
These JF-17 block 3 have better build quality and appreciable finish than earlier blocks with door hinges and for the first time I can say it has reached a point where it will be a threat to some of the IAF fighters especially MiG-21s, jaguars, etc....
Even though it's a Chinese fighter licensed build, Congrats. Pakistan has reached where we were with Mig21,23,27 in 1980s building from kits send by USSR with a few parts being manufactured by HAL. This will pave way for further development of aeronautical military industrial complex...
I think It’s PAF first AESA equipped Fighter jet . And that will give them significant capability enhancement. Not sure if HMCS equipped or not, but if rumours are to be believed it is.
BTW it’s just optical illusion or the nose section is longer than earlier blocks!
There has been a lot of airframe stiffening and software update,going on since the first crash, in November 2011.
At the time there were unknown weaknesses in the wing structure and the flight computer allowed the aircraft to go beyond its structural capability.
Combination of both caused the wings to flex so much that the aircraft lost the necessary lift.
On this occasion it was too close to the hills and could not recover.
Payload capability is higher in block 3 , but i am not sure how high.
Likewise there was an issue with the air to air missiles provided by the Chinese.
I used to know a guy who was on the Radar network of PAF He told me that Block 2 was tested for locking on aircraft size targets at 70 km range and done so multiple times. But PAF had reliability issues with the missiles. The algorithm which maneuvered the missile to within close proximity of enemy aircraft was not reliable.
All those issues are now settled.
Anyway here are some pics of 2011 crash due to wings failure.
polishing a turd doesn't do too much
'aircraft lost necessary lift' is a situation that never occurs in other aircraft because....their designs are extensively tested before production. When you rush a jet into production then you find out these issues when they start flying.
Yes it is first AESA radar equipped fighter for Pakistan but it is air cooled AESA again a first in world, so can't say how effective/good it is. It's the first time the finishing and the build quality is looking good, maybe due to use of composites and so it's looking sleek although the airframe is same it just seems longer nose cone/section...
Bhai, use of composite has nothing to do with fit and finish of the final product. It’s just your misconception.
Have look at F16,F15,F18 and again ask the same question you are repeating again and again.
FC1 supplied to every country including those to Pakistan have very good fit and finish (those canopy hinges of trainer aircraft notwithstanding). Perhaps due to Chinese aviation industry being more advanced than countries like ours.
PS: Watch the videos of Composite manufacturing I’ve posted in KF 21 thread. Infact raw composite panel looks uglier/coarse than raw metal panels. And it needs a lot of treatment and different type of primer and paint to make it shiny looking body like we see on Boing and Airbus planes.
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Also by looking at the picture the composite panels are not even 20% of total and are mostly on less stressful areas. So don’t know what composite you are talking about. It seems that here composite materials are mainly used to compensate for increased weight due to AESA and other added subsystems (as engine thrust is same )
Some significant changes are the air intake under the vertical stabiliser, has red cover , same as other intakes..Likewise the change in position of pitot tubes and AOA sensor at the front, probably to make way for AESA radar.
Then the additional pylon for pods or an extra air to air missile.
BTW who polishes a Turd? Is that your hobby?
If I remember correctly, JF17block2 overload is limited to 7.5G, JF17 does not have OWS
It is not air-cooled. At the beginning, there were two AESA models for Pakistan to choose, but Pakistan did not choose the air-cooled AESA.
Yes they did.
Pakistan Selects KLJ-7A AESA Radar for JF-17 Block-III
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) selected the NRIET KLJ-7A active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for its forthcoming multi-role combat aircraft, the JF-17 Block-III.
quwa.org
Fake newsYes they did.
Pakistan Selects KLJ-7A AESA Radar for JF-17 Block-III
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) selected the NRIET KLJ-7A active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for its forthcoming multi-role combat aircraft, the JF-17 Block-III.
This is air-cooled AESA, developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
This is the KLJ7A chosen by Pakistan
There are many Variants of this radar and Pakistanis chose the 4th one which is Air cooled. The image you posted is having side mounted panels lol.
I haven’t found any news on the Chinese media that there are four variants of KLJ7A.