Malaysia Eyes Buying Pakistani JF-17 Fighter Aircraft

Malaysia is considering to buy the JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighters from Pakistan.

Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr Hasrul Sani bin Mujtabar was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune news daily  that his country is interested in the JF-17 and “a decision about numbers would be taken very soon by the Malaysian government.”

The Chinese-Pakistan joint development of the fighter jet has already seen an unidentified customer during the Dubai Airshow in November.

The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the Aviation Industries Corporation of China (AVIC) partnership has signed a contract with a third party customer for the purchase of the JF-17 Thunder, AVIC Executive Vice President Liu Yu had said in a statement. However, the customer was not identified nor details of the sale revealed.

Malaysia is the midst of a fighter replacement program and is being courted by France for the Rafale, Boeing for the F/A-18 and Lockheed Martin for the F-16 V.