The JF-17 Thunder – You Don’t Need To Spend A Trillion Bucks To Pull Off This Move

Bring The Thunder.

Building an air force is not an easy task and those currently in the process usually have two options. Either they can purchase very expensive modern aircraft or buy older aircraft that can cost a fortune in maintenance. The choices are not simple, however, Chengdu is offering a much cheaper alternative, the JF-17 Thunder. The JF-17 has become popular among countries with older aircraft looking to upgrade to an affordable modern fighter jet. The largest fleet of JF-17s is in the Pakistan Air Force with 60 units and they plan to increase their total to 250.

“This is a very good, maneuverable aircraft. It can pull up to 8 Gs and negative 3 Gs. It has the capability of going vertically up having a good thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.09. This aircraft is very easy to learn and understand. I can tell you how easy it is by saying that doesn’t have a dual-seater. So the first flight in this aircraft will be your solo flight.”

– Squadron Leader Nadir Ali (Pakistani Air Force)

The Thunder is actually a very solid fighter reaching speeds of Mach 1, armed with several guns, bombs, air-to-air missiles and ready to integrate other weapons. With so many countries choosing the FJ-17 would the US Air Force be better off buying cheaper planes rather than new models that cost upwards of $100 million?