2 hours ago
3
Islamabad, Pakistan – By the standards of mega arms deals, the $1.5bn woody for Pakistan to reportedly merchantability jets and weapons to Sudan’s subject isn’t huge.
But the deal, which the Reuters quality bureau reported successful aboriginal January was adjacent to being finalised, could beryllium pivotal successful the grinding warfare that has devoured Sudan for astir 3 years betwixt the country’s equipped forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4Why is Pakistan selling its JF-17 combatant jets to Bangladesh and others?
- list 2 of 4What did India and Pakistan summation – and suffer – successful their subject standoff?
- list 3 of 4‘Watershed’: How Saudi-Pakistan defence pact reshapes region’s geopolitics
- list 4 of 4Did Pakistan sprout down 5 Indian combatant jets? What we know
Tens of thousands of radical person been killed, millions person been displaced, and RSF troops person been accused of pack rapes – including of infants.
The statement nether dialog is lone the latest successful a bid of moves by Pakistan successful caller months that show the increasing footprint of its subject hardware and clout successful the Arab world.
Pakistan’s subject has, implicit the past fewer years, sold jets to aggregate countries successful Asia and Africa, and is successful talks with others. But successful the Middle East, its subject relation has traditionally, for the astir part, progressive grooming forces of Arab allies.
That’s present changing, with a spree of deals and negotiations that could crook Pakistan into a cardinal information supplier successful immoderate cases, and springiness it the quality to extremity the equilibrium successful delicate conflicts successful different instances.
But analysts pass that divisions wrong the Arab satellite mean that Pakistan volition request to tread cautiously – oregon hazard burning bridges with important partners.
Saudi communal defence
Anchoring this displacement successful Pakistan’s subject power successful the Arab satellite is the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) the state signed with Saudi Arabia past September, weeks aft Israel bombed Qatar, mounting disconnected concerns crossed the portion implicit whether the United States – historically the information supplier for respective Gulf states – could beryllium trusted.
Since then, Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia is among the countries that person besides expressed involvement successful Pakistan’s JF-17 Thunder combatant jet.
Saudi Arabia, 1 of the world’s wealthiest countries, operates a ample and blase aerial unit equipped chiefly with US and European craft and is successful the process of ordering astatine slightest 48 US-manufactured F-35 jets, considered among the astir precocious combatant craft presently available.
But Adil Sultan, a erstwhile Pakistan Air Force aerial commodore, said Saudi Arabia whitethorn besides beryllium looking to diversify its defence suppliers amid shifting geopolitical dynamics.
Pakistan, arsenic a accepted ally, and with the communal defence pact successful place, is simply a “reliable partner” for Saudi Arabia. If Saudi Arabia buys JF-17s, it would “enhance interoperability of some the aerial forces and would beryllium mutually beneficial”, helium told Al Jazeera.
Amir Husain, a Texas-based defence exertion analyst, agreed.
“With the SMDA betwixt Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, it makes a batch of consciousness for determination to beryllium a grade of commonality successful systems,” helium said.
“Saudi Arabia is helping countries successful the region, specified arsenic Libya, Somalia and Sudan, attain stability. The JF-17, and the Royal Saudi Air Force’s [RSAF] familiarity with this platform, tin execute these determination stabilisation aims,” Husain added.
The JF-17 attraction
Apart from Saudi Arabia, Iraq excessively has shown involvement successful the JF-17, according to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – the military’s media arm.
(Al Jazeera)The JF-17 Thunder is simply a lightweight, all-weather, multirole combatant jointly produced by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation.
Production is divided betwixt the 2 countries, with 58 percent carried retired successful Pakistan and 42 percent successful China. Pakistan produces the airframe, portion China supplies the avionics.
The latest version, the Block 3 variant, is classified arsenic a 4.5-generation fighter. It features air-to-air and air-to-surface capabilities, precocious avionics, an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, physics warfare systems and the quality to occurrence beyond-visual-range missiles.
The AESA radar allows pilots to way aggregate targets simultaneously and observe threats astatine longer distances, though the craft lacks the stealth characteristics of fifth-generation fighters.
According to Pakistan Air Force (PAF) sources, afloat assembly takes spot successful Pakistan, and the accumulation enactment astatine the Kamra installation tin manufacture betwixt 20 and 25 craft annually.
Pakistan has marketed the JF-17 internationally for respective years. Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Myanmar are presently among the aircraft’s operators. But analysts accidental involvement successful the pitchy has intensified since the little but aggravated subject confrontation betwixt Pakistan and India past May.
During their four-day aerial conflict, some launched missiles and drones astatine each other’s territories, parts of Kashmir they administer, and subject bases, aft gunmen killed 26 civilians successful Indian-administered Kashmir.
On the archetypal nighttime of fighting, connected May 7, Pakistan claimed it had changeable down respective Indian craft utilizing Chinese-made J-10 Vigorous Dragon jets.
The PAF deployed a 42-aircraft enactment that included JF-17 Thunders and US-made F-16 Fighting Falcons against a 72-aircraft enactment from the Indian Air Force. Indian officials initially denied immoderate losses but aboriginal acknowledged that “some” planes had been lost.
With a comparatively low-price tag of $25m to $30m per aircraft, the JF-17 has agelong been seen arsenic an charismatic enactment for aerial forces seeking a cost-effective solution – it is overmuch cheaper than comparable craft produced by Western manufacturers.
Analysts accidental that its caller combat vulnerability has added to its appeal, arsenic battle-tested show often carries greater value than terms alone.
Al Jazeera sent queries to ISPR and the PAF seeking confirmation and details astir the negotiations with antithetic countries, but received nary response.
Beyond Saudi Arabia and Iraq, reports suggest that Sudan’s upcoming woody with Pakistan besides involves the JF-17. Pakistan, reports successful December suggested, was besides readying to merchantability these jets to Libyan rebels. Outside the Arab world, Bangladesh and Indonesia person besides shown involvement successful the jets.
Walking a tightrope
But Pakistan’s expanding subject clientele besides means that the state volition request to juggle competing interests, accidental analysts.
In Sudan, its weapons and jets volition spell to the equipped forces, which are besides supported by Saudi Arabia. Sudan, meanwhile, has accused the United Arab Emirates of financing and arming the paramilitary RSF – a complaint the UAE has repeatedly rejected.
In Libya, Pakistan reportedly struck a $4bn woody successful December with Khalifa Haftar, the rebel person whose service controls a large chunk of the country’s north.
Sudan’s service – which Pakistan’s service is reportedly astir to limb – has antecedently accused Haftar of helping the RSF. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the UAE person been connected opposing sides successful Yemen successful caller weeks, with Riyadh accusing Abu Dhabi of arming confederate separatists. The UAE has denied those allegations.
Against that backdrop, it volition not beryllium casual for Pakistan to merchantability the aforesaid weapons systems to opposing sides, Umer Karim, an subordinate chap astatine the Riyadh-based King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, told Al Jazeera.
Karim said that helium besides believed that the Pakistani jets that Saudi Arabia has reportedly shown involvement successful are besides meant for the Sudanese military.
But Pakistani platforms, and the JF-17 successful particular, connection different benefits, adjacent to Sudan’s service and Libyan rebels, said Sultan, the erstwhile PAF officer. That the JF-17 is manufactured jointly with China gives it other geopolitical heft, helium pointed out.
“These countries whitethorn bargain less numbers [than bigger countries] arsenic per their requirement, but Pakistan whitethorn beryllium seen arsenic a astir reliable root to get craft owed to beardown enactment from China,” helium said.
Unlike Western weapons systems, jets similar the JF-17 are besides appealing to Global South militaries due to the fact that of their “robustness, little lifecycle cost, easiness of maintenance, and accelerated operationalisation”, different retired PAF official, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera. This authoritative was progressive with the JF-17 programme portion successful service.
A Pakistani Air Force JF-17 Thunder is connected show astatine the Dubai Air Show, United Arab Emirates, connected November 19, 2025 [Altaf Qadri/AP Photo]Pakistan’s weapons exports
The JF-17 is driving a overmuch wider weapons export propulsion from Pakistan, accidental analysts.
A caller study by KTrade, a Karachi-based brokerage and probe firm, said that Pakistan’s defence exports see not lone combatant jets but besides tanks, drones, armoured vehicles, naval systems and tiny arms.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says Pakistan remains 1 of the world’s largest arms importers, with astir of its imports coming from China, portion exporting little than $50m worthy of arms annually.
However, information from Pakistan’s cardinal slope shows that arms and ammunition exports jumped massively successful the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, rising from $13m to much than $400m.
While ne'er officially acknowledged, the leap successful figures is wide attributed to Pakistan supplying ammunition to Ukrainian forces warring Russia since February 2022.
The reports of imaginable JF-17 income travel arsenic Pakistan seeks to stabilise its system and rebuild diplomatic momentum. Islamabad has precocious improved ties with the United States portion reinforcing partnerships with China, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
Pakistan is presently successful its 25th International Monetary Fund programme, a $7bn indebtedness dispersed implicit 37 months, underscoring its request for overseas inflows.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif precocious suggested that arms exports could easiness that dependence. “Our craft person been tested, and we are receiving truthful galore orders that Pakistan whitethorn not request the International Monetary Fund successful six months,” helium said successful a tv interview.
KTrade estimated that existing and imaginable JF-17 deals, including a $1.5bn declaration with Azerbaijan from 2024 and imaginable income to Saudi Arabia, Libya and Sudan, could make up to $13bn, boosting Pakistan’s overseas reserves by arsenic overmuch arsenic 82 percent.
Karim, however, remains unconvinced, noting that erstwhile efforts to marketplace the pitchy did not pb to large contracts.
“It is simply a spot unusual that each of a sudden, and without that benignant of aggravated authoritative and organization engagement, truthful galore defence deals involving the JF-17 are being discussed,” helium said.
“For now, 1 tin accidental they’re meant to task the communicative of the Pakistani defence concern analyzable and its indigenous limb systems coming of property and attracting customers everywhere.”
Sultan attributed the renewed involvement to lessons drawn from past year’s struggle with India, “where Chinese-sourced limb systems person proven their efficacy against the precocious Western aircraft”.
The JF-17 Thunder is presently successful usage by the aerial forces of Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Myanmar [File: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]A multipolar arms market
Pakistan’s discussions with imaginable weapons buyers are unfolding against a backdrop of intensifying contention betwixt the United States and China, arsenic galore countries reassess defence procurement strategies successful an progressively polarised world.
The US remains the world’s largest arms exporter, accounting for 43 percent of planetary income successful 2024, according to SIPRI. China ranks fourth, with astir a 6 percent stock – astir two-thirds of which goes to Pakistan.
The retired PAF authoritative who spoke connected information of anonymity said immoderate JF-17 merchantability should beryllium seen arsenic strategical diversification, not geopolitical defiance.
“This reflects a pragmatic displacement toward multipolar defence procurement, wherever performance, combat credibility, outgo and sovereignty substance much than bequest alignments,” helium said.
Husain, the defence exertion analyst, agreed, saying Pakistan was not competing straight with US manufacturers.
“The JF-17 is simply a tremendous aircraft, and determination is country successful galore fleets for some platforms,” helium said.
Uzair Younus, spouse astatine The Asia Group, a Washington, DC-based geopolitical consulting firm, concurred, adding that the diversification is mostly driven by a designation that “Western defence proviso chains volition beryllium strained for the foreseeable future”.
“I don’t spot Washington, astatine slightest nether [US President Donald] Trump, viewing these developments negatively,” Younus said. Countries similar Saudi Arabia are apt to procure cutting-edge supplies from the West, and entree to platforms similar the JF-17 helps them bolster their capableness to bash the determination information enactment that America wants them to do,” helium told Al Jazeera.
English (US) ·