JF-17 Thunder Fighter Jet: Speed, Specs, Price, & Cockpit

JF-17 Thunder Fighter Jet: Speed, Specs, Price, & Cockpit. JF-17 Thunder or FC-1 Xiaolong is actually a single-engine, multi-role light fighter aircraft developed jointly by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAIC) and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). JF-17 fighter planes were actually built primarily to meet the requirements of the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) and replace the current aging fleet of Nanchang A-5, Chengdu F-7P/ PG, and Dassault Mirage III/ V.

The first JF-17 Thunder flight was actually finished in August 2003 and began operations in March 2007. The aircraft was actually designated as Joint Fighter-17 (JF-17) by Pakistan and as China-1 Fighter (FC-1) by China. The JF-17 was actually first exhibited at the 2010 Farnborough Air Show. Two Squadron Black Spiders No. 26 aircraft owned by PAF were actually also on display at the exhibition. Development of the JF-17 version of the two-seat fighter/ trainer was actually announced in February 2012.

JF-17 Thunder Engine

The JF-17 fighter jet is actually powered by the Klimov RD-93 turbofan engine. Each engine can produce a maximum dry thrust of 49.4 kN and the thrust with afterburn is actually 84.4 kN.

The sophisticated WS-13 turbofan engine is actually currently being actually developed by Liyang Aero Engine Corporation, Guizhou, to replace the Klimov RD-93. It is actually expected to produce an output thrust of 80-86.36 kN with a lifetime of 2,200 hours.

The maximum speed of a JF-17/ FC-1 fighter is actually 1,909 km/ hour. The range and ceiling of aircraft services are actually 2,037 km and 15,240 m, respectively. The operational radius is actually 1,352 km. The aircraft weighs about 6,411 kg and the maximum take-off weight is actually 12,474 kg.

JF-17 Thunder Specs

The JF-17 Thunder airframe design is actually a semi-monocoque structure and is actually built primarily from aluminum, steel and titanium alloys. The aircraft consists of a lateral air intake and supersonic inlet pod diffuser of electronic equipment.

The JF-17 Thunder landing gear is actually a retractable tricycle mounted on the JF-17. The controllable nozzle is actually located under the cockpit between the air intakes, while the two main wheels are actually mounted under the fuselage between the wings. It also has a hydraulic brake which consists of an automatic anti-skid system.

JF-17 Thunder is actually equipped with an internal fuel tank carrying 2,330 kg of fuel. These tanks can be actually refueled through a single point pressure refueling system. The fuel system is actually also simpatico with Inflight Refueling (IFR). JF-17 produced for PAF will be actually equipped with IFR probes.

JF-17 Thunder Cockpit and Avionics

The JF-17 fighter jet is actually equipped with a glass cockpit and a specially designed canopy. Acrylic canopies cover the aircraft’s cockpit and provide clear-cut visibility. The cockpit features three multifunctional displays (MFD), a head-up display (HUD), a 32-bit weapon and a mission management computer (WMMC) and a hand throttle and stick.

The cockpit is actually also equipped with an advance control panel (UFCP) installed between the MFD and HUD. Chinese HUD is actually designed and developed to overcome the mist errors that often occur in humid, sub-tropical, and tropical zones.

The avionics suite has a JF-17 fighter jet including an electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS), flight control system (FCS), health and usage monitoring system (HUMS), automated test equipment, UHF/ VHF communication radio, simpatico data link, inertial navigation system (INS) and friend-or-opponent transponder identification (IFF).

Early versions of the JF-17 fighter aircraft were actually equipped with the KLJ-7 NRIET radar. The KLJ-7 radar can track ten targets located outside the visual range (BVR) via track-while-scan mode. Further development, an Italian Galileo Avionica Grifo S-7 pulse Doppler radar will replace the KLJ-7 radar in a JF-17 aircraft. This radar can operate in 25 work modes for 200 hours continuously. Look-down, shoot-down, and ground-strike are actually further abilities.

JF-17 Thunder Weapons

JF-17/ FC-1 fighter jet can be actually armed with GSh-23 dual-barrel 23 mm cannon or GSh-30 dual-30 mm. The aircraft has seven hardpoints, four of which are actually located under the wing, one under the fuselage and two mounted at the wingtips. It can carry up to 3,700 kg of load.

This fighter aircraft can also carry SD-10 homing medium-range air-to-air missiles (MRAAM), directional bombs, satellite guided bombs, gravity bombs, anti-ship missiles, anti-radiation missiles, anti-radiation missiles, rocket launchers and laser pointer pod. Hard spots on the wing can carry short-range air-to-air missiles AIM-9L/ M, PL-5E, PL-9C.

The JF-17/ FC-1 fighter jet defense system is actually equipped with a defensive assistive system (DAS), which includes a radar warning system (RWS), a missile approach and a warning system (MAWS), a countermeasure system and its own radar interference protection system. RWS collects the direction and proximity of enemy radars and sends data to pilots.

MAWS consists of various optical sensors that detect and display rocket missiles approaching the aircraft on the MFD. Bait flares and chaff incorporated in the dispensing system prevent enemy missiles from tracking aircraft by locking enemy aircraft radar systems.

JF-17 Thunder Price and Orders

The price of the latest JF-17 Thunder fighter jet is actually about US $ 25 Million. PAF ordered eight JF-17 aircraft. The first two were actually forwarded March 12, 2007 and the remaining six were actually sent in 2008.

PAF acquired 42 JF-17 fighters as aspect of a contract worth $ 800 million signed in March 2009. PAF plans to buy 250 aircraft at a cost of $ 3bn-5bn.

The first two aircraft were actually delivered in 2009. The first Pakistani-made JF-17 was actually delivered to PAF in November 2009. About 200 JF-17 aircraft were actually purchased in 2015. China signed an agreement with Pakistan in May 2011 to supply 50 additional JF-17 thunder jets to replace the aircraft combat MiG-21 and Northrop F-5 Tiger.