China will be assisting Pakistan Air Force in upgrading its JF-17 Fighter Jets with top-of-the-line radar technology. The KLJ-7A active phased array radar will substantially improve the jet’s air combat capability.
The news was reported by a radar researcher of Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology in Jiangsu province of China. The institute is China’s largest developer of the military radar technology and is owned by the state company, China Electronics Technology Group Corp.
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More than 20 Asian and African countries are clients of the radars developed by the institute. The radar is ideal for light and medium jets and JF-17 perfectly fits the category. Hu Mingchun, head of the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology, while talking about the radar in JF-17 said;
Our product will tremendously extend the fighter jet’s detection range, giving it a much longer sight that will help it detect the enemy’s aircraft before they do, and this is very important because in real combat if you see first, you fire first.
Hu further added that;
The radar is capable of tracking dozens of targets and engaging several of them simultaneously. It also has a good jamming-resistant capacity that keeps the plane away from enemy’s electronic interference.
The cutting-edge radar tech will increase JF-17’s appeal towards potential buyers as well. A Chinese aviation expert told;
The KLJ-7A will enable JF-17 and its variants to have a stronger fighting capability at a reasonable cost, allowing the aircraft to compete with or confront expensive Western or Russian jets.
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Aviation Industry Corp of China co-developed JF-17 as it is known as FC-1 in China. It is one of the most advanced and widely used fighter jets in Pakistan Air Force fleet.