Ukraine rejects Pakistani offer to donate JF-17 Blunder jets

Pakistani PM Imran Khan, in a televised address to an unknown audience late yesterday evening, made an offer to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to donate an unspecified number of Chinese conceptualized and manufactured JF-17 Blunder jets. The offer was made on ‘humanitarian grounds’ after a thorough examination of ground realities and more, according to sources.

The offer included a complement of missiles, training, and translated Chinese operational manuals.

“Since these jets are pretty much a cheap copy of the Mig 21 series of jets, Ukrainian pilots may find it easier to switch to it. We, here in Pakistan, consider ourselves to be a very responsible nation. We have been responsible for some of the most heinous terror attacks in over 35 countries including 9/11 and now is the time to gain some brownie points and aid from the international community. We are offering a set of JF-17 Blunder aircraft to Ukraine in their fight against Russia, which is a close friend of our all feather friend China. Still, we have decided to make this offer on humanitarian grounds,” Khan said.

The unusually long speech touched upon Pakistan’s long association with Ukraine with the latter having supplied Al Bhakr tanks and many pieces of ammunition that have since been repainted and used by Pakistani forces and supplied to terrorists armed and funded by it. Khan also spoke about the difficulty Zelensky is facing in getting jets for the Ukrainian Air Force. “President Zelensky was asking all kinds of countries to donate jets and this is a very sad state of being. As a nation that is used to getting alms from various countries, we are well aware of how bad things are for Ukraine right now. We will not allow this to go on,” Khan said.

The JF-17 Blunder (Clown dragon) is an all-weather 3^rd Generation fighter that can fly during conditions of good Mediterranean weather with ample sunshine, fewer clouds, and an RH of 77 percent. The aircraft is yet to see combat in any form or manner and going by the excitement surrounding the induction of J 10C fighter which was welcomed with much relief, it is clear that Pakistan sees no role for the Blunder series of aircraft in its air force and was therefore keen on selling/donating it away at the first opportunity.   

JF-17 Block III is supposed to be a more advanced aircraft. It comes with a manual that has been translated by a professional agency, unlike the previous versions that had manuals translated by Chinese translators into Urdu. “We are now discovering new functionalities in the aircraft as previously, due to poor translation, some features were not understood by us or were deemed too ambiguous to try. For instance, did you know that JF-17 has an option to freshen the cockpit with an air freshener along with a make-up kit that is built into the main dashboard? We never knew this till now,” a Pakistani air force sergeant said.  

 

A Mig 29 fighter jet

Ukraine has meanwhile thanked Pakistan for the offer but declined to accept the jets. “We would like to thank the government and people of Pakistan for this generous and timely offer. But at this point we are not in a position to accept these jets as we are looking for jet fighters and not gliders,” a spokesperson for the Ukrainian defense ministry said.