The single seat version was designed in such a way that a two-seat version could later be adapted. 

Nonetheless, we thank Indian Navy for including JF-17 thunder.

Updates:
- There was a heavy presence of Pakistan Airforce personnel as well as the Chinese.
- Egyptian Airforce chief has said that they’re “Very interested” in JF-17 Thunder aircraft.

The list:

Source: http://www.dubaiairshow.aero/the-show/aircraft-list

Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman will be talking about the development and service entry of JF-17 into Pakistan Airforce. 

Source: http://www.international-fighter.com/Event.aspx?id=585544#air_chief_marshal_rao_qamar_suleman

This was revealed during a briefing to parliamentary public accounts committee. Pakistan has approximately 30 JF-17 thunder fighters in service. It is expected to have 50 more fighters in the near future from China. PAF may have upto 90 fighters in service by the end of the year.

Pakistan airforce is also in process of procuring atleast one squadron of J-10 fighter plane.  The airforce is also upgrading its F-16 fleet.

JF-17 is very likely to be present at Dubai Airshow in November according to CATIC President Ma Zhipang who was speaking from the Paris airshow event. He stated JF-17s couldd not perform at the airshow due to the unstable situation in the country. 

Jf-17 has previously participated in Farnborough, Zhuhai and Izmir Airshow. 

Source: Flightglobal

CATIC President Ma Zhiping speaking from the Paris Air show has said several countries have test flown JF-17 fighter plane. African and Middle Eastern countries have shown strong interest in the aircraft. Sales outside Pakistan are likely in next two-three years.

Mr. Ma also said "We've entertained customers from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. On the first day we had meetings with 10 customers. They were interested in all of our aircraft, including the JF-17."

Jf-17 thunder is a low cost multi-role fighter jet jointly developed by Pakistan and China. It is currently operated by Pakistan Airforce. Currently, two squadrons have been deployed. Pakistan is expected to have over 90 thunders by the end of 2011. Pakistan is also co-producing the aircraft in its developing aviation industry.

Pakistan and China have also signed Memorandum of Understanding to develop stealthy version of air combat plane. 

Source: FlightGlobal

This event marks JF-17's third participation in an airshow. The fighter aircraft has previously participated in Farnborough(statis display only) and Zhuhai airshow. The aircrafts were all set to participate in the Paris airshow but pulled out due to security reasons. Pakistan Airforce also brought in F-16 for another solo display. Some of the videos and images are posted below. I will update this post over the comming week and add more pictures and videos. If you have any specific content in mind, feel free to contact me.  

For Videos and Images , continue reading.

Jun 07 Updates:

Jun 05 Updates:

Videos and images:

JF-17s are schduled to perform from 2:37 PM to 2:50 PM local Turkish time.  We will continue to update this post as mor information arrives.

PAF had earlier confirmed that three JF-17s will be participating in the airshow being held in Turkey.  Jf-17s last trip to Europe was in in Farnborough Airshow held in 2010. However the planes were only on static display. At the end of 2010, JF-17s performed at Zhuhai Airshow in China.  This will be JF-17's first air display in Europe.

Pakistan's aerobatics team 'Sherdils' (Lion Hearts) were also scheduled to be present at the Izmir airshow. However, the performance was cancelled just few days ago. 

JF-17s landing at Jordan enroute to Turkey

JF-17s at Izmir

You can watch the video below:

But they'll be at Izmir airshow in Turkey. Sherdils will not be performing at Izmir. Few weeks ago it was announced that JF-17s will be performing at the Paris airshow. This would have been JF-17's second appearance in western Europe and would have been the first that included the aerial display.  JF-17's last trip west was to Farnborough, where the plane was showcased via static display. Other aircrafts expected to perform at the show included F-16 Falcons, F-15 Eagles, Sukhoi-30s and many more.

America's OBL raid has led to consequential revenge attacks on Pakistani civilians and armed forces by the terrorists. Over 100 people have been killed and millions of dollars worth of damages were incurred when two P3-C Orions were destroyed in an attack Pakistani Naval Base PNS Mehran in Karachi.

The increasing complexity in relations with America and deteriorating security situation has created a very fragile situation.

Pakistan and China also agreed to speed up the production of JF-17 Thunders. China would provide 50 upgraded JF-17s to Pakistan.

Pakistan is expected to have at-least 92 (42+50) JF-17s by the end of 2011.

This may or may not be connected to reports in some Indian media that France had put sale of heavy millitary hardware on hold as it tries to woo India to choose Rafale over Eurofighter in $10bn+ deal. It is to be noted that Pakistan currently is not purchasing any heavy military hardware from France. French defense minister insisted that they had requested Pakistan to not make any requests for purchase. Pakistan has also not shown serious interest in French hardware for a while. Chinese beat French in the race for avionics on JF-17 Thunders. The French connection to JFT participation is completely speculative at the moment.

An official statement from Pakistan Airforce has not been received.

As is with the poor defense journalism in South Asia. We first heard that the 50 planes are going to be provided merely in weeks. That is very unrealistic. Only now some more believable time line is pouring out of the news. Pakistani defense minister Ahmad Mukthar has said 50 JFTs could take up to 6 months to be delivered. This sounds a lot more realistic, I would still take it with a little bit of caution.

The price of JF-17s have also moved into $20-25m range, up from $15-20m. These are the figures quoted by the defense minister while he was comparing the price with that of F-16 Falcons, which he mentioned was $80m a piece.

We have some news reports suggesting that the aircrafts will have upgraded avionics. Other sources in defense communities have added weight to this news as well. We do not yet know the exact nature of the upgrades nor are we 100% certain if there would be any upgrades at all.

It has also been reported that this batch is in addition to the current batch that is being assembled in Pakistan.

Pakistan air force will have atleast 80 JF-17 thunders by the end of this year. A significant boost to its strength.

All this news raises some questions:
1. What exactly are the avionics upgrades? We’ve heard about a newer radar from less than main-stream sources. Lets wait and watch. Is there going to be IRST?
2. JF-17s that are being assembled in Pakistan right now, will they include the avionics upgrades or will they maintain the present configuration?
3. Will the new JF-17s incorporate changes to reduce RCS? We’ve heard that stealthier version of JF-17 is under development. Is this it?
4. What are the other changes in the newer batch?

Your thoughts? feel free to correct me.

Other Sources: DunyaNews, Daily Tribune, Jang(Geo, Urdu)

The missile has a passive anti-radiation seeker designed to target different types of radars. The radars can be targeted independently or with data provided by the launch aircraft. Missile's range has been quoted to be in between 60 and 100 km.

Pakistan ordered 100 missiles in 2008 for $126m.

MAR-1 is also the only modern anti-radiation weapon in Pakistan Airforce's arsenal.

We know that:
- Pakistan and China are working on a stealthy JF-17
- A previously unknown LO helicopter (Blackhawk variant?) crashed during OBL raid in Abbotabad. Not everything was destroyed of the helicopter.
- We saw army covering the wreckage up and taking it away.Is it possible that the technologies, specifically the material and the paint can find there ways into future programs of Pakistan and China?

There have been rumors in the past that Baburs derive a lot of ideas from Tomahawks that landed in Pakistan without exploding.

Just some food for thought

*Update:
USA has requested Pakistan to return the wreckage.

Also keep in mind that helicopters and aircrafts operate in a very different environment. It is not necessary that information obtained would help directly in JF-17 program. China is already developing J-20 and any stealth technology passed on to JF-17 is likely to flow in from that direction.

Russian Su-30 will be on the static and air display, F-16C and F-15E from USAF will also be there. F-35 may or may not make an appearance.Rafale will obviously be showcasing its strong points on the home turf.

Notable no-shows come from JAS-39 Gripen and F-18 Super Hornet.

Other aircrafts are going to be M-346 advanced jet trainer, C-27 J tactical transport, C-17, C-130J, Airbus Ml 400m, PC-21, AT802 and Tiger Attack Helicopter.

Source

Similar information had been circulating on a Pakistani defense community few weeks earlier.