Pakistan Air Force Chief (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmud Ahmed will attend the formal first operational flight ceremony of JF-17 (Thunder) fighter, a joint venture of Pakistan and China, at Chengdu (China) on May 10, officials said. He will witness the first aircraft (prototype 4 or P4) taking off from the People's Liberation Army Air Force Airbase in Chengdu. Ahmed will be heading a 10-member PAF delegation to see the first ever Pakistan-China joint production lifting off. With this take-off, the aircraft will enter into formal production at Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC) in Sichuan. The CAC is the second largest aircraft industry in China. Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Kamra, near Islamabad, will start the production of the aircraft in June 2007. Pakistan is expected to get the first batch of four JF-17s Thunder (Chinese FC-1) in the first quarter of the next year. The CAC-PAC joint venture has an accumulated cost tag of $500 million, while the aircraft will have a price tag of 15-20 million dollars, depending on the specifications. Pakistan and China have shared the cost on the project equally.
