Great Britain Blocks 12 JF-17 Thunder Sale To Argentina

Martin-Baker Illustration highlighting Sino-Pak JF-17 ejection seat. source Martin-Baker.

China’s attempt to sell Argentina its JF-17 jet that it makes in collaboration with Pakistan could be blocked by the U.K. as one of its crucial components- the ejection seat- is made by a British company, Martin-Baker.

London had earlier vetoed the sale of 12 South Korean TA-50 light fighter jets to the South American country citing an arms embargo imposed on Argentina after the 1982 Falklands war. The TA-50 contains several British-made components including the Martin-Baker ejection seats and landing gear made by Safran U.K.

Following the collapse of the South Korean deal earlier this year, China’s CATIC (China National Aero-technology Import & Export Corp.) which manufactures major components of the JF-17 and assembles the jet in Pakistan, sent a delegation to Buenos Aires on May 8 2021. The delegation reportedly discussed the sale of 12 units of the JF-17 and visited the facilities of FADEA, an Argentine aircraft manufacturer, which may be involved in a potential assembly or service of the fighters.

What is not known is whether the CATIC delegation offered the current JF-17 Block II or the upcoming Block III version that offers an AESA radar besides the latest weapons bringing it close to the fourth generation light fighters. An earlier attempt to sell Brazilian Gripen jets to Argentina fell apart as it contained British-made components.

Martin-Baker supplies its PK16LE ejection seats for the JF-17. In fact, a Pakistani Air Force JF-17 aircraft had crashed on September 5, 2020 with the pilot successfully electing. The British company had announced then, “This marks the first JF-17 ejection, an aircraft that’s fitted with Martin-Baker PK16LE ejection seats.”

In addition to accepting offers from CATIC, Argentina has officially sent a request for information (RFI) to Russia to buy 12 units of the Su-35 jet. The RFI seeks details on financing, rates and terms for the respective equipment and systems offered.

© 2021, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.