Days ago, within the framework of the celebrations for the Victory in the Patriotic War waged against Armenia in 2020, Azerbaijan officially confirmed the reception of the first batch of new JF-17B/C Thunder fighters acquired from Pakistan, intended to renew the combat aviation of its air force. Following the announcement made by the Azeri government, new images of the aircraft began to go viral, which participated in the air parade on November 8, showing greater details of them.
During September 2024, Azerbaijan confirmed the execution of one of the most important military equipment renewal operations in its recent history, materialized with the purchase of a total of forty (40) JF-17 Thunder Block III fighters from Pakistan, intended to replace the old MiG-29s of Soviet origin.
According to what was reported by Baku months ago, the investment reaches US$ 4.6 billion for the aforementioned aircraft. In turn, as various sources indicate, the operation does not involve only Pakistan, but also Turkey, given that the country could equip the fighters produced by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex with various locally developed air-to-air armament, such as the Bozdoğan and Gökdoğan missiles.
Returning to the events of last November 8, the Azeri government officially confirmed the reception of the first five (5) JF-17 Thunder provided by Pakistan, which were protagonists of the air parades for Victory Day.
Subsequently, as open-source information (OSINT) accounts for, this batch would be composed of more units. According to images that went viral days ago, the first batch of JF-17 incorporated by the Azerbaijani Air Force would be made up of six (6) single-seat JF-17C, complemented by three JF-17B, the two-seat variant of the aircraft arising from Sino-Pakistani industrial cooperation.
Finally, with no further details published officially, it can only be assumed that the delivery of this first batch of new combat aircraft marks the formal beginning of the delivery schedule of JF-17 Thunder for Azerbaijan, a country that becomes a new operator of the aircraft, whose main user is the Pakistan Air Force, and which also operates in Nigeria and Myanmar.
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