If public announcements ring true, Pakistan will be the first country outside China to operate the J-10 fighter. (Gordon Arthur)
Changes are afoot for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), with the first JF-17 Block III single-seat fighters set to be handed over and the J-10C fighter to be obtained from China.
Images of the first batch of JF-17 Block IIIs at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) were circulating on the internet, apparently taken during an unofficial ceremony on 31 December 2021. This date marked the beginning of production of the upgraded JF-17 at PAC Kamra a year earlier.
The pictured fighters powered by Russian RD-93 engines are still in their yellow-coloured primer but construction numbers witnessed up to ‘3P11’ indicate
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