{"id":6810,"date":"2026-05-22T10:34:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T04:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/?p=6810"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T04:49:06","slug":"pakistan-sends-jf-17-simulator-to-bangladesh-as-fighter-deal-nears-finalisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/?p=6810","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan Sends JF-17 Simulator to Bangladesh as Fighter Deal Nears Finalisation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">By Ali Imran Chattha, ISLAMABAD\/DHAKA, May 22 \u2014 Pakistan has delivered a combat-grade JF-17 Thunder Block III flight simulator to Bangladesh, signalling that a major fighter jet deal between the two countries is close to finalisation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">The simulator, transported via a Pakistan Air Force C-130J, is configured for full operational training, indicating that pilot readiness is already underway ahead of aircraft induction. A PAF delegation led by Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed conducted training covering AESA radar, avionics, maintenance, and maritime strike operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">Bangladesh is expected to acquire 16\u201324 aircraft in the first phase, with potential expansion to 48 jets. The deal includes training, infrastructure, and weapons packages. With a unit cost of USD 25\u201340 million, the JF-17 offers a lower-cost alternative to Western fighters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">The aircraft, jointly developed by Pakistan and China, is a single-engine multirole fighter equipped with modern radar, advanced avionics, and beyond-visual-range missile capability. It is currently operated by Pakistan, Myanmar, and Nigeria.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">Interest in the JF-17 has grown following regional conflicts, including the 2019 India\u2013Pakistan crisis in which an Indian MiG-21 was shot down and its pilot captured, as well as heightened aerial tensions in 2025. Analysts say these events have increased the aircraft\u2019s global visibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">Bangladesh leads a list of prospective buyers, with reported interest from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and North African states, reflecting Pakistan\u2019s expanding defence export ambitions.<\/span><br \/>\n<!--\/data\/user\/0\/com.samsung.android.app.notes\/files\/clipdata\/clipdata_bodytext_260522_004727_453.sdocx--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ali Imran Chattha, ISLAMABAD\/DHAKA, May 22 \u2014 Pakistan has delivered a combat-grade JF-17 Thunder Block III flight simulator to Bangladesh, signalling that a major fighter jet deal between the two countries is close to finalisation. The simulator, transported via a Pakistan Air Force C-130J, is configured for full operational training, indicating that pilot readiness [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG-20260522-WA0000.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6812,"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6810\/revisions\/6812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesasian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}