In fact, military fans dragon block 3 should not be unfamiliar, and even can be said to be a little familiar overdone, its new phased array radar, domestic advanced air-to-air weapons, has been familiar to everyone. But this Dragon Block3 has actually been in the drawing and testing stage, and has not been officially mass-produced. Recently, Pakistan has finally officially unveiled this advanced fighter, which also indicates that the first 8 aircraft of the Dragon Block3 have officially rolled off the production line from the assembly plant located in the Pakistan Aviation Complex.
According to current reports, the Dragon Block3 is also known as the JF-17C in Pakistan, and there is a brand new model after the JF-17B two-seater. At present, the assembly workshop of the Pakistan Aviation Consortium has rolled off the assembly line of the first batch of 8 fighters, and the production number may eventually reach 50. This batch of fighters will be preferentially purchased by the Pakistan Air Force to replace the old J-7PG fighters, and the quantity produced will be exported to other countries.
Judging from the current data, the JF-17C fighter has been greatly upgraded in the radar perception system, electronic warfare system and weapon system, and the fighter is equipped with an active phased array radar produced in China, and also carries the latest domestic short-range and medium-range air-to-air weapons, and the air superiority combat capability has been greatly enhanced. We can also see the new electronic warfare pod from the vertical tail of the fuselage, as a light aircraft, its electronic warfare capabilities have been greatly improved. As can be seen from the previous pictures, the JF-17C internal use of a new wide-angle diffraction screen display, this set of equipment has been very high-end, generally the fourth generation of aircraft are not used, the basic use of this set of display control equipment fighters are four and a half generations of fighters.
After the upgrade, the Block3 has become a typical fourth-and-a-half-generation fighter according to national standards, and its individual air combat performance is no less than that of fighters such as Rafale and Swedish Gripen. It is said that the Rafale fighters currently used in India are still equipped with passive phased array radar, while the JF-17C uses active phased array radar.
Since the aircraft has just been mass-produced, the production capacity is relatively limited, so the first batch must be provided to the Pakistani Air Force for use. Subsequent models may be introduced in a number of countries, including Myanmar and Nigeria, which are also customers of the earlier models of the Dragon Fighter. For example, Myanmar in 2019 on its air force 72nd anniversary event high-profile display of two imported Xiaolong fighters, which attracted the attention of many southeast Asian countries.
In addition to Myanmar and Nigeria's intention to introduce an upgraded version of the JF-17C fighter, It is said that Pakistan has also revealed that Iran can possibly purchase this new fighter, although the specific details have not yet been finalized, but with the JF-17C low price and higher four-and-a-half generation fighter standards, plus advanced domestic air and air weapons, it is indeed very attractive.
Overall, this time the Dragon Block3 finally officially unveiled, or very good news, on the one hand, the addition of JF-17C and the previously said J-10C foreign trade, instantly to the Pakistani air force such as two needles of strong needles, its homeland air defense and air combat capabilities are fully capable of resisting the rafale, and the high and low collocation is more flexible. On the other hand, JF-17C and J-10C foreign trade version, but also let the two domestic four-and-a-half generation fighters have a better foreign trade export, which is basically to catch the last train, if you miss this opportunity, you will have to face the impact of more five-generation foreign trade aircraft in the future. It is believed that JF-17C with the advantages of good performance and low cost, the future can also occupy a place in the foreign trade market, and a type of dragon we can upgrade to four and a half generations, but also enough to show that the overall upgrade capability of domestic fighters has been at a high level in the world.