21 Apr 16. Pakistan bullish on JF-17 sales. Despite a high-profile reversal for the JF-17 fighter in Malaysia last December, officials from the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) attending the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2016 exhibition in Kuala Lumpur remain optimistic about regional sales and offered details about the fighter co-developed with China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group. In December 2015 Malaysia’s high commissioner to Pakistan said Malaysia was considering purchasing the JF-17 and might make a decision “very soon”. Malaysia’s defense minister denied this the following day.
Nevertheless, PAC officials attending DSA remain optimistic about a future sale to Malaysia. Myanmar has been widely reported as the first JF-17 customer.
PAC officials also countered recent negative reports about the JF-17 in Western media. They denied a JF-17 had broken up in flight due to faulty wing design, as had been reported earlier this year. According to press reports, India recently advanced criticism of the JF-17 to lobby against the JF-17’s sale to Sri Lanka.
Regarding future JF-17 development, on multiple occasions Pakistani officials have affirmed their commitment to the 8.7-ton-thrust Klimov RD-93 turbofan. However, officials speaking to IHS Jane’s at DSA 2016 said that for the goal of advancing aircraft performance, they were open to considering China’s 9-ton-thrust WS-13 or the 9.4-ton-thrust Klimov RD-33MK.
Russian industry sources at DSA 2016 noted that the WS-13 remains at an early stage of development and has an estimated service life of 2,000 hours compared with 4,000 hours for the RD-33MK.
PAC officials also confirmed that the new JF-17 refuelling probe design, recently seen in China, will be the configuration for the JF-17. These officials also noted that Pakistan has an anti-ship variant of the new China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC)-developed hypersonic CM-400 air-to-surface missile. They said a twin-seat JF-17 would begin test flights in late 2016 or early 2017. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
19 Apr 16. Colombian Army seeks cargo aircraft. Colombian Army Aviation is considering buying about 10 medium-size liaison aircraft, with two tons of cargo capacity, to increase and standardise its fleet, army sources told IHS Jane’s. Currently, the aviation branch has a mixed fleet of liaison aircraft, some captured from drug traffickers and other purchased, but this has caused logistics problems. The fleet comprises a mix of Beechcraft C90; Catpass B250, B200, B300, and B350; Rockwell 695 Aero Commander; Casa C-212-100; Cessna 208B Grand Caravan; and Antonov An-32B. However, the army wants increased capacity to carry small cargo and small numbers of troops between bases. One option analysed is to buy more Casa C-212s, but the service is also studying the Dornier 228, among other types, the sources said. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/IHS Jane’s)
19 Apr 16. House Seapower Markup Restores Ship, Aircraft Cuts. The House Armed Services Committee has been a bastion of the more-more-more club, rejecting Administration reductions to defense programs, opposing mandated sequestration cuts and urging higher levels of arms spending.
The election-year markups issued today by the body’s subcommittees continue to reflect those practices, and the mark proposed by the Seapower and Projection Forces is no exception, boosting ship construction spending by more than $2bn – a 12 percent jump over the administration’s request.
“This mark increases shipbuilding to $20.6bn, $2.3bn more than the President’s budget, and the highest level of shipbuilding funding since the Reagan-Lehman era, adjusting for inflation,” subcommittee chairman Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., said in a statement.
“With this legislation, we are rejecting further budget cuts, bending the curve lines, and making a down payment on the 350-ship Navy we need for national defense,” Forbes added.
The Seapower markup adds two new ships – a littoral combat ship