WHY JF-17 THUNDER BLOCK III IS SLATED TO RECEIVE GOOD RESPONSE IN LIGHT FIGHTER JET EXPORTS MARKET
In mid to budget competitive market for Single engine 4.0++ Light Multi role fighter jets , JF-17 Block III fits the bill as well as the niche.
JF-17 Thunder is an advanced, light-weight, all weather, day / night multi-role fighter aircraft; developed as a joint venture between Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Kamra and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC) of China. It possesses excellent air-to-air and air-to-surface combat capabilities.
The state-of-the art avionics, optimally integrated sub-systems, computerized flight controls and capability to employ latest weapons provides decisive advantage to JF-17 over adversaries of same class. This, all weather, multi-role light combat fighter has remarkable high combat maneuverability at medium and low altitudes. With effective firepower, agility and combat survivability, the aircraft is likely to emerge as a potent platform for any air force.
Aerodynamic Configuration
- Bifurcated side air inlet with incorporation of latest
- BUMP intake technology for improved performance
- Leading edge maneuvering flaps
- Trailing edge flaps
- Twin Ventral Fins
Landing Gear
- Nose gear with steering
- Main gear with paddle controlled hydraulic brakes and
anti-skid braking system.
Comfortable Cockpit Escape and Egress System
- NVG compatible cockpit conforming to US MIL
- Standard, suitable for 3% to 98% percentile range of pilots.
- Single Piece Stretch Acrylic Transparent Canopy providing a good all-around Field of View
- Ejection Seat
- Latest Martin Baker high performance ejection seat
- Canopy Severance System for additional safety
- French Oxygen Regulation System
- Passive Leg Restraint System
Environment Control System and Oxygen System
- Effective control of cockpit pressure and temperature
- Effective temperature and humidity control of cockpit
and avionics for optimum performance
- Efficient Anti G system for Pilot
Flight Control System
- Flight control system of JF-17 Block-III aircraft is a full authority, three axis, and quad redundant digital fly by wire system
- Quad-redundancy in Fly By Wire System
- Autopilot, Auto spin recovery and Auto TEF controls
Fuel System
- Total internal fuel 5400 lb (3000 liters)
- Single point pressure refueling system
- External Fuel
- One centre line drop tank 800 liters
- Two under wing drop tanks 800/1100 liters
Power Plant
PAF choice was RD93 Russian engine initially since it is extremely simple and rugged engine. RD93 is a lot more tuned with FADEC. The RD-93 was actually superior to all PAF service engines at that time except the F100 series of the F-16 ; However it did had better response cycle to turbulence.
RD-93:
- Dry weight: 2,325 lb
- Military Thrust 11,230 lbf
- Reheat Thrust 18,285 lbf
Specific fuel consumption:
0.77 lb/(lbf·h)) military thrust
2.05 lb/(lbf·h)) with reheat
RD-93 was a proven reliable engine and Chinese ensure more than 300 engines [Upto 500] were ordered in first lot for continuity.
Depending on the purpose, the Chinese can equip it with two types of engines – one is the Chinese Guizhou WS-13E smokeless turbofan engine with a higher thrust,
the other is the Russian Klimov RD-93, which also drives the famous MiG-29 fighter.
The limited latest WS-13E engine life data is around 3000 hours, while the service life lags just a bit behind that of RD-93. These are issues which are under rectification since its a powerplant of choice for other Chinese assets.
Whichever is the choice of the two engines, they are capable of providing the JF-17 with a speed of up to 1.8 Mach.
Avionics Suite
The avionics suite makes the JF-17 an effective weapon platform. The glass cockpit and hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS) controls reduce pilot workload. Accurate navigation and weapon aiming information on the head up display helps the pilot achieve his mission effectively.
The multifunction displays provide information on engine, fuel, hydraulics, electrical, flight control and environmental control system on a need-to-know basis along with basic flight and tactical information.
The capability has been built around highly modern state-of-the-art avionics equipment that can undertake high-tech aerial warfare in an all-weather operations, detecting/tracking/locating by AESA Radar in complicated ECM environment ensuring improved Short-Range Air-to-Air and Beyond Visual Range multi-target attack capability.
The salient avionics equipment is as follows:
- Dual redundant mission computers
- Dual redundant 1553 Mux bus architecture
- AESA Radar capable of tracking multiple targets with prioritized firing
- In-built self-protection jamming
- Internal and external SPJ suites
- Ring laser gyro inertial navigation system tied with GPS
- Smart head up display with up front control panel and 28 Degrees FoV
- Color video recording camera and video recorder
- HOTAS
- Three smart multi-function color displays
- Helmet Mounted Display
- Radar Altimeter
- Combined Interrogator/Transponder
- Live Virtual Construct (LVC)
- Tactical Data Link
- VHF / UHF Communication System
NRIET/CETC KLJ-7A Air-cooled Airborne Fire-Control Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar
Weapons Capability
The aircraft is fitted with modern Stores Management System incorporating accurate weapon delivery modes and solutions involving minimum pilot workload. The aircraft is capable of carrying some of the most modern as well as conventional weapons, including:
- Beyond visual range active missiles
- Highly agile Imaging infrared short range missiles
- Air to sea missiles
- Anti radiation missiles
- Laser guided weapons
- Runway penetration bombs
- Stand-off weapons
- General purpose bombs
- Training bombs
- 23 mm double barrel gun
Armaments:
PL-10
air-to-air missiles (AAMs), PL-15 ‘Longer Stick’
beyond visual range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAMs) on DER , Open architecture to integrate any modern BVR, , Mk 80-series Takbir general-purpose bombs with Range Extension Kit (REK)
| Armament | |
| No of Stations | 08 |
| Total Load Capacity | 3400 KG |
It is also integrated with IIR-guided PL-10
high off-boresight (HOB) air-to-air missiles (AAMs) with an improved capability, which means they do not have to be pointing in any specific direction to target an adversary. The aircraft can fire from whatever position, and its missiles will adjust thrust, speed, and trajectory to hit targets.
With SAR Enabled Radar , ASEL Pods on Chin, SPJ Pods, EW Capability, Network Centric capability, Next Gen REK & ALCM Stand off munitions integration in process, Anti Ship arsenal already deployed, SEAD HARM Missile included , its a bang for buck machine indeed...!
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