CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

what is it?

The CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder, also known as FC-1 Xiaolong, is a Sino-Pakistani single-engine lightweight supersonic multirole combat aircraft developed jointly by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China. It is a fourth-generation fighter, designed and developed as a replacement for the third-generation A-5C, F-7P/PG, Mirage III, and Mirage 5 combat aircraft in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The JF-17 can be used for multiple roles, including interception, ground attack, anti-ship, and aerial reconnaissance.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 9.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,910 km/htop speed
• size 13.5 tmax take-off weight
• built 86made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 23 years ago, in 2003.
• 🏎️Top speed is 14.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 1.5 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.4 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.9× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

2003-08-25

introduced

2007

status

still flying

number built

86

role

multirole combat aircraft

origin

🇨🇳 People's Republic of China

makers

Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex

engines

1× Klimov RD-93MA

crew

1

length

14.3 m

wingspan

9.4 m

height

4.6 m

max take-off weight

13.5 t

top speed

1,910 km/h

range

—

ceiling

16,916 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.