Chinese made Pak fighter JF-17 to be grounded due to Ukrainian sanctions on Russia

Moscow, Aug 23: A day after the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror training camp at Balakot on February 26, 2019, to avenge the Pulwama terror strike, the Pakistanis launched a counter with US F-16 fighters and Chinese JF-17 fighters south of Pir Panjal in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

 

 

There is documentary evidence that the Pakistan Air Force relied only on F-16s to target unspecified targets in the Nowshera-Rajouri-Poonch sector across the LoC with JF-17 fighters not involved in the action at all.

 

 

 

The Pakistani strike was intercepted by Indian fighters with Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman shooting down a much superior F-16 before crashing his vintage MiG-21 Bison in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). While the US F-16 fired air-to-air missiles at Indian fighters, the much-touted Sino-Pak developed JF-17 was just for show and did not see the air battle and remained hidden behind the American fighters. The JF-17 programme today is in the doldrums due to a lack of spare parts for the Russian-made Klimov RD 93 aircraft engine. Stung by multiple failures of JF-17 aircraft, primarily due to the serviceability of RD-93 engines, Pakistan had directly approached Russia for procuring the RD-93 engines, bypassing China. In the aftermath of multiple negotiations by Islamabad with Moscow, Russian engine company Kilmov has now indicated its willingness to supply RD-93 engines and its associated repair systems and maintenance facilities to JF-17 aircraft. However, in 2018, M/s Rosoboronexport, which is authorised to export defence equipment including RD- 93 engines and spares, was sanctioned by the US, thereby adversely affecting the sourcing of RD-93 engine spares by the PAF. The sanctions restrict Rosoboronexport from undertaking US dollar transactions, which the two governments and the concerned banks have now been attempting to sort out. Russia has been strengthening its defence ties with Pakistan by allowing it to procure the RD-93 engine directly from it as opposed to using China as an intermediary as was the case previously. However, international relations are in a state of flux and strategic equations are changing fast with Russia coming under pressure from the West and looking for support from others. It is apparent that Russia is moving close to China in the evolving geo­ political matrix which is sought to be exploited by Pakistan.

 

Also Read: Russia is planning to launch fresh attack on Ukraine: US intel 

 

The JF-17 fighter jets, developed jointly by Pakistan and China, which was supposed to be a low-cost, lightweight, all-weather, multi-role fighter with a Chinese airframe, has now become a liability for Islamabad as it failed to keep up with the hype of being the best fighter aircraft in the world. Islamabad's experience with the JF-17 aircraft, particularly its Russian-made RD-93 engines, tells a completely different story besides casting serious doubt on the quality of these aircraft.