A flypast over Baku suggests that Azerbaijan has accepted at least five Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex JF-17 fighters.
The aircraft appeared in online footage of a 9 November military parade to celebrate the end of the Second World War.
“A formation of five newly accepted JF-17 multi-functional fighter jets…” stated a newscaster during the parade.
The JF-17s were immediately followed by five Lockheed Martin F-16s of the Turkish air force, five Azerbaijani Sukhoi Su-25 attack jets, and then seven more Su-25s emitting coloured smoke to symbolise Azerbaijan’s flag.
Baku first hinted at its JF-17 buy in September 2024, when Azerbaijani ruler Ilyam Aliyev stated that he was presented with a JF-17 at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev international airport.
He said that the aircraft had been “integrated” into the nation’s air force but provided no further details. Moreover, his office issued a picture of him viewing a Pakistani JF-17, which was in town for a defence show.
In addition, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra published a video from social media with the tagline “Azerbaijan becomes 4th official operator of JF-17.”
Press information about Aliyev’s JF-17 interaction focused on the Block III version of the single-engined fighter, which was jointly developed by China and Pakistan.
The Block III features an active electronically scanned array radar in the form of the KLJ-7A, developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology (NRIET). NRIET has said that the KLJ-7A can track dozens of targets simultaneously and is resistant to jamming.
The aircraft is powered by a single Klimov RD-93 engine. The type is, however, likely to get a Chinese-made engine in the form of the Guizhou WS-13 Taishan.
FlightGlobal’s 2025 World Air Forces directory indicates that Azerbaijan ordered eight JF-17s. These add to its fixed-wing combat fleet of 12 RAC MiG-29s and 18 Su-25s.
With the advent of the JF-17 in the skies above Baku, Azerbaijan becomes the fourth operator of the JF-17 after Pakistan, Myanmar and Nigeria.
