China confident Russia will allow fighter jet sale to Pakistan

JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft
China is optimistic it will win permission from Moscow to use Russian engines in a new multi-role fighter to be sold to Pakistan, the Financial Times reported, citing a senior official involved in the project.

Re-export of the Kilmov RD-93 engines would be a boost to the backers of the new Xiaolong fighter, which is being jointly developed by Pakistan and China, the newspaper said.

Moscow has for years banned Beijing from re-exporting Russian engines used widely in Chinese military aircraft to Pakistan, a policy driven mainly by Russia's long-term defence ties with India, the newspaper said.

But a turnaround would clear the way for Pakistan to buy at least 150 of the fighters, also known as JF-17 Thunder, in a deal valued at around 2.3 bln usd, the newspaper said.

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