![Nigerian Air Force Set To Induct The First Batch Of Pakistan-made JF-17 Thunder Fighter Jets](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_1024,h_498/https://fighterjetsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Nigerian-JF-17-1-1024x498.jpg)
The official Twitter handle of the Government of Nigeria announced that the country’s air force was expecting the delivery of three JF-17 fighters from Pakistan.
The Government of Nigeria Twitter handle quoted Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, chief of the Nigerian Air Force, as saying, “We are expecting 3 JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft from Pakistan, 12 A-29 Super Tucano from the United States, and one Mi-171E… A total of 200 personnel are receiving training in 9 different countries of the world on handling combat aircraft. They will soon join their colleagues in the fight against insecurity and in particular, insurgency in the North East.”
Pakistan-made JF-17 Thunder Block II jets have been spotted in Nigerian Air Force (NAF) paint scheme indicating that they could be headed to Abuja.
Images appearing in social media show the blue-on-white round logo of the NAF on the wing of a JF-17 Thunder aircraft.
![Nigerian Air Force Set To Induct The First Batch Of Pakistan-made JF-17 Thunder Fighter Jets](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_640,h_427/https://fighterjetsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Nigerian-AirForce-JF-17.jpg)
Images surfaced of Nigerian pilots training on the JF-17 at the Pakistan Aeronautics Complex (PAC), the company that builds the aircraft.
![Nigerian Air Force Set To Induct The First Batch Of Pakistan-made JF-17 Thunder Fighter Jets](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_720,h_480/https://fighterjetsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/JF-17-Nigerian-pilots.jpg)
On November 10, the Nigerian Air Force’s Facebook account tweeted that the Makurdi Air Base was being modernised to accommodate the JF-17 fighters.
The Nigerian Air Force announced that Abubakar had commissioned a facility to accommodate “Pakistani pilots and technicians who would support the JF-17 aircraft during the first year of its operations in Nigeria”.
Talk of a deal between Pakistan and Nigeria to supply JF-17 fighters was first reported in 2015-2016. In 2018, Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee approved a deal to sell three JF-17 jets to Nigeria at a cost of $184.3 million.
Interestingly, China Economic Net, a Chinese state publication, reported on Tuesday that the deal to supply to JF-17 fighters to Nigeria was a joint venture between PAC and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation. “Each jet costing $61.2 million apiece includes a complement of missiles, laser-guided bombs and targeting pods supplied by China,” China Economic Net reported.
The JF-17 is expected to be Nigeria’s most advanced supersonic fighter. The Nigerian Air Force currently uses the Chinese-built J-7 (a derivative of the MiG-21). The JF-17 would give the Nigerian Air Force the capability to fire beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles and also deploy precision-guided bombs for ground-attack missions against groups such as Boko Haram.
The JF-17 entered service with the Pakistan Air Force in 2010. Over 150 JF-17 fighters have been built and Pakistan and China have been engaged in developing an upgraded ‘Block 3’ variant that would feature advanced radar and other electronics.