According to a report by the Pakistani media, citing reliable sources, Pakistan and Iraq recently signed an arms deal order of $1.8 billion, and the "Pakistani Railway" will sell 12 "Thunder" fighters to the Iraqi Air Force, plus 12 trainer planes. In other words, the "Thunder" has entered the Middle East, which is of great significance for the future "Thunder" to continue to explore the international market. For a long time, Middle Eastern countries have mainly purchased fighter planes mainly from the United States and European-made fighters, especially the F-15 from the United States and the "Typhoon" and "Rafale" fighters from Europe, which are very popular in the Middle East.
As an oil exporter in the Middle East, Iraq is not short of money, and the reason why it chose the "Thunder" instead of the more expensive American and European fighters is, in a sense, show that China's fighter jets have caught up with the American and European fighters in terms of performance, and in some respects, they have even surpassed them. Especially the latest "Thunder" Block3, compared with the world's single-engine fighters, the advantages are still relatively obvious. First of all, the weapon payload capacity of the "Thunder" Block3 has been significantly upgraded, and the pylons have come to 10, which can be compatible with air-to-air, air-to-ground and anti-ship missiles. That is to say, don't look at the "Thunder" is a single-engine fighter, but its skills are very comprehensive, and this versatility is very suitable for countries whose combat needs are not too high.
Secondly, the avionics system and weapon system of the "Thunder" Block3 have reached the level of the fourth-generation and a half-generation fighters, compared with the first version and the later improved versions, the most significant upgrade of the "Thunder" Block3 in the avionics system is that it is equipped with a KLJ-7A active phased array radar, so that the detection capability of the "Thunder" Block3 against enemy aircraft has ushered in a qualitative improvement, and in the era of over-the-horizon combat, whoever discovers it first will gain the right to take the initiative to attack. The weapons equipped with the "Thunderbolt" Block3 are also very explosive, capable of carrying "Thunderbolt-10" and "Thunderbolt-15" air-to-air missiles, you know, "Thunderbolt-15" is the main air-to-air missile carried by the People's Liberation Army's fifth-generation stealth fighter J-20.
Such an advanced avionics system and weapon system, so that the "Thunder" Block3 fighter directly full, in the context of explosive performance, the price of this fighter, not as outrageous as European and American fighters, the price of 50 million US dollars, can be said to be very cost-effective. After the "Thunder" entered the Middle East this time, there may be more buyers of the "Thunder" in the future. In fact, the "Thunder" had already entered South America, but in the end, because of the obstruction of the United States, Argentina gave up the plan to purchase the "Thunder". Fortunately, the West is not bright and the East is bright, and the "Thunder Dragon" immediately made up for it. At present, the "Thunder Dragon" is relatively capable of fighting in the international arms market, but the "Brilliant" fighter of India next door will have much more difficulty in life.
The Indian Government has invested a lot of money and used various channels to sell "Brilliance" to other countries, but the embarrassing thing is that up to now, "Brilliance" has not been cared for in the international arms market. The fundamental reason is that the performance of "Guanghui" is not advanced and cannot meet the needs of customers. In addition, the reliability and stability of the Indian-made "Brilliant" has to be marked with a question mark, and the Indian-made "Polaris" armed helicopter purchased by the South American country Ecuador has already been smashed in its hands, so other countries have a psychological shadow on Indian weapons. "Guanghui" breaks the "zero record" of export sales, I am afraid it will take a long time.