Azerbaijan Reveals JF-17 Deliveries

Azerbaijan has begun receiving long-awaited deliveries of its new fleet of JF-17 combat aircraft, video published by the country’s defense ministry has revealed.

Two single-seat Block 3 JF-17 Thunders appear in the video, published on July 6, flying along with Azerbaijani Air Force Aero Vodochody L-39 trainers and Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft performing training flights. The video is the first acknowledgement of the fighters’ delivery.

Baku has ordered 40 JF-17s, Pakistan’s government confirmed in September 2024. This made Azerbaijan the largest export customer for the single-engine, lightweight fighter, which was developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corp. Other export customers include Myanmar and Nigeria.

The video emerges after uncertainty about the status of the order. Military newspaper Azerbaycan Ordusu reported last November that Pakistan had started delivering aircraft to Azerbaijan, describing the type as “newly adopted.” Those reports coincided with a series of flypasts over Baku by unmarked aircraft that were likely Pakistan Air Force aircraft posing as Azerbaijani.

Baku’s JF-17s wear a similar gray of Pakistan’s, but feature Azerbaijan’s flag on the tail and the signature of Heydar Aliyev, the country’s third president following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan’s decision to adopt the Pakistani fighter further diversifies the country’s already eclectic military inventory, which includes equipment from Europe, Israel, Russia and the U.S. Its front-line fighter fleet has largely been dominated by aging Mikoyan MiG-29s and Su-25s inherited from the Soviet Union.

Turkey has upgraded the Su-25s. However, Baku has faced a shortfall in MiG-29s after several were reportedly lost when Russian strikes destroyed the facility in Lviv, Ukraine, where they were undergoing maintenance.

The JF-17s will likely replace the MiG-29s in the air defense role.