Project Sabre II was the
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...
's program to develop a feasible and
low-cost multirole combat jet based on an existing design—the
Chengdu F-7 Skybolt, a
Chinese variant of the
MiG–21.
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) initiated Project Sabre II in 1987, hiring the
American aerospace firm
Grumman
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 19 ...
, to provide crucial expertise to refine the baseline
aircraft design along with specialists from the PAF and the
Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
After studying the Sabre II concept with Grumman, the PAF terminated the program as unfeasible on economic grounds. Grumman withdrew from the project after
sanctions were imposed by the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
on
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
after Beijing's suppression of the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...
.
["Grumman to upgrade Chinese F-7Ms", ''Flight International'' magazine, published 26 November 1988, Retrieved: 15 February 2010](_blank)
/ref> An embargo on military aid to Pakistan imposed by the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
further hampered the Sabre II development effort in the 1990s. In 1995, Pakistan and China began a collaboration which led to the successful JF-17 Thunder program.
Program overview
Origins
In 1982, the Indian Air Force (IAF) procured the MiG-29 Fulcrum from the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
to modernize its fighter aircraft fleet. As a result, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) began looking for new technology to replace its aging fighters. By 1984, the PAF's F-7P (Chengdu F-7) fighters were equipped with western electronic systems. The PAF began developing an improved version of the F-7M to replace its large fleet of F-6 fighters.
The Pakistan Air Force started looking for a new fighter to replace their large fleet of Shenyang F-6 fighters, as they approached the end of their service lives in the late 1980s. After showing interest in the F-7M, the Air HQ of the Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...
initiated Project Sabre–II to the develop a low-cost multirole fighter jet on the model of the F-7M.
Design feasibility
In January 1987, the Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...
commissioned New York-based Grumman Aerospace to conduct studies and assess the feasibility of the Sabre II design concept with Pakistani aerial specialists and the Chinese Chengdu Aircraft corporation. After five to seven months, the group concluded that the financial risks caused by very high project costs, and the availability of more cost-effective options outweighed the potential benefits from technology transfer from the US to the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is a major defense contractor and an aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan.
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is one of the largest defense contractors in aerospace and milit ...
, increasing its experience and technical knowledge.
Grumman, the Pakistan Air Force and the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) created the Sabre II concept by radically upgrading the F-7M.["China: J-7 (MiG-21), ''Flight International magazine'', published 19 August 1989, Retrieved: 18 October 2009](_blank)
/ref> Changes included upgrades to its avionics
Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...
suite, radar system and engine, and a redesigned forward fuselage. The PAF stated that the Sabre II would replace around 150 F-6s in combat service. A picture showed that the F-7's nose inlet had been replaced with a solid nose radome and a new pair of air inlets were mounted on the sides of the fuselage under the cockpit.
Under Project Sabre II and the Chinese Super-7 project, the F-7 airframe was redesigned with angled air intakes on the sides of the fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
so a solid radome
A radome (a portmanteau of "radar" and "dome") is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna (radio), antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weathe ...
nose could house radar and other avionics from Northrop's F-20 "Tigershark" fighter. The Chinese WP-7 turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
engine was to be replaced with a modern turbofan
A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the add ...
engine, either the GE F404 or PW1120, to improve performance. The resulting aircraft, designated F-7M Sabre-II, would have looked much like the Guizhou JL-9 (or FTC-2000) jet trainer / fighter aircraft.
Pratt & Whitney's PW1216, an afterburning derivative of the J52-P-409 turbojet producing of thrust, was also proposed as the Sabre II's engine. Its afterburner was designed in China. Fitting the APG-66 radar was also planned.
U.S. objections and termination
As the Soviet Union was withdrawing from neighboring Afghanistan, American interest in Pakistan lessened. The PAF terminated the Sabre II project after Grumman
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 19 ...
's warning that it was financially risky and less feasible than other options. Worsening of the US–Chinese relations after Beijing's suppression of the Tiananmen Square student protests also hurt the project, as U.S. sanctions prevented transfer of American technology to China. Grumman Aerospace withdrew from the project shortly thereafter.
At the same time, the US Congress imposed an embargo
Economic sanctions or embargoes are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior throu ...
on economic and military exports to Pakistan when Congressional leaders became aware of Pakistan's atomic bomb program. A panic ensued among the Pakistani military, as its nuclear bomb program impacted the Super-7 project. The US government tolerated Pakistan's nuclear program during the 1980s due to a desire for the country's cooperation in defeating the USSR in the Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
. Once the Soviet forces retreated, Pakistani cooperation was no longer required and military and economic sanctions were imposed on Pakistan under the Pressler amendment in 1990. This prevented F-16
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...
aircraft already paid for by the PAF during the Afghan war from being delivered. Efforts by the PAF to find a replacement failed (see Pakistan Air Force#1990–2001: U.S. arms embargo).
Evolution into JF-17
The Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...
decided on a much less expensive solution for replacement of the F-6, the F-7P Skybolt, an upgraded version of the F-7M Airguard. The F-7P fleet was to be supported by a fleet of over 100 advanced F-16s from the United States, 40 of which had been delivered during the 1980s. The PAF launched a secretive project, ROSE
A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
, to procure as many second-hand Dassault Mirages as possible and upgrade their electronic systems. In March 1990 it was reported that after being rejected by the PAF, Sabre II had been superseded by the Super 7 and China was considering continuing its development. The American arms embargo had forced the PAF to come up with innovative solutions to keep all its combat infrastructure operational.[Sheikh, PAF, Air Marshal Rashid (2001). The story of the Pakistan Air Force, 1988-1998 : a battle against odds. Pakistan: Shaheen Foundation. p. 432. .]
The PAF hired Russia's Mikoyan Group as consultants, and design studies for the project began at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is a major defense contractor and an aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan.
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is one of the largest defense contractors in aerospace and milit ...
. In 1995, the Pakistan Air Force decided to resume the program and quickly reached out to China. Memoranda of Understanding were reached between both countries towards developing new aircraft to fill the role of the Super 7. This led to the successful development of the JF-17 Thunder, introduced in 2003.
References
{{MiG-21 family
Chengdu aircraft
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex aircraft
Abandoned military aircraft projects of China
Cancelled military aircraft projects of Pakistan
Mid-wing aircraft
Single-engined jet aircraft
Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear
China–Pakistan military relations
China–United States relations
Pakistan–United States military relations
History of science and technology in Pakistan
Programs of the Ministry of Defence (Pakistan)
Pakistan Air Force
1987 in Pakistan
Secret military programs