Project Sabre II

{{Short description|Pakistani fighter project}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox aircraft begin

|name = F-7S Sabre II

|image =

|caption =

}}{{Infobox aircraft type

|type = Multi-role combat aircraft

|manufacturer =Pakistan Aeronautical Complex

|design group = Pakistan Aeronautical Complex

|first flight =

|introduced = 1987

|retired =

|status = Cancelled

|primary user = Pakistan Air Force (PAF)

|more users =

|produced =

|number built =

|unit cost =

|developed from = Chengdu F-7M

|variants with their own articles =

|developed into =

}}

{{external media

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| image1 = [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%201745.html?search=grumman%20sabre%20II Models of the Sabre II], in PAF markings, and the Chengdu F-7 published in September 1987.{{Cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%201745.html?search=grumman%20sabre%20II|title=Flight International magazine, 19 September 1987, page 11}}

| image2 = [http://military.china.com/zh_cn/important/11052771/20100216/15816950.html The F-7 Sabre II and the Super 7.]

}}

Project Sabre II was the Pakistan Air Force'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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%203361.html?search=Sabre%20II|title="Indian MiG upgrade proposed"}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%200672.html?search=Sabre%20II|title="Pakistan Considers new Fighter Plan", Flight International magazine, published 14–20 March 1990, retrieved: 18 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/j-7p.htm|title=F-7P Sabre II "Super 7" (Chao Qi)|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org|accessdate=26 November 2014|archive-date=3 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803043104/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/j-7p.htm|url-status=dead}} The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) initiated Project Sabre II in 1987, hiring the American aerospace firm Grumman, 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).{{cite web|last1=Xiao|first1=Ming|title=JF-17 Thunder|url=http://www.fighter-aircraft.com/cac-fc-1-xiaolongpac-jf-17-thunder.html|website=fighter-aircraft.com|publisher=Fighter Aircraft|accessdate=26 November 2014}}

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 on China after Beijing's suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%203360.html "Grumman to upgrade Chinese F-7Ms", Flight International magazine, published 26 November 1988, Retrieved: 15 February 2010]{{cite book|last1=Afsir|first1=Karim|title=Indo-Pak Relations: Viewpoints, 1989–1996|date=1998|publisher=Lancers Publishers|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=189782923X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltOgS1FjiR4C&q=project+sabre+ii+pakistan&pg=PA36|accessdate=26 November 2014}} An embargo on military aid to Pakistan imposed by the United States further hampered the Sabre II development effort in the 1990s.{{cite web|last1=Hamid|first1=Jalal|title=JF-17 Thunder – the First Squadron Enters Pakistan Air Force|url=http://www.jahojalal.com/2010/02/jf-17-thunder-first-squadron-enters.html|publisher=Jalal Hamid|accessdate=26 November 2014|date=23 February 2010}}{{Self-published inline|date=March 2022|certain=yes}} In 1995, Pakistan and China began a collaboration which led to the successful JF-17 Thunder program.

Program overview

=Origins=

File:Pakistani Chengdu J-7.JPG

In 1982, the Indian Air Force (IAF) procured the MiG-29 Fulcrum from the Soviet Union 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,{{cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%200341.html?search=Sabre%20II |title=Grumman Pursues Pakistan Fighter |publisher=Reed Business Information |work=FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL|date=13 February 1988 |accessdate=16 September 2016 |pages=17}} as they approached the end of their service lives in the late 1980s.{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.defencetalk.com/pictures/showphoto.php/photo/3207|author=Alan Warnes|title=Pakistan's Vision: Bridging The Capabilities Gap"|magazine=Air Forces Monthly|issue=July 2004|page=33|access-date=12 April 2010|archive-date=6 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706002652/http://www.defencetalk.com/pictures/showphoto.php/photo/3207|url-status=dead}} After showing interest in the F-7M, the Air HQ of the Pakistan Air Force initiated Project Sabre–II to the develop a low-cost multirole fighter jet on the model of the F-7M.

=Design feasibility=

File:Chengdu J-7M.png, of which its design was studied.]]

In January 1987, the Pakistan Air Force 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, 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.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1989/1989%20-%202539.html?search=Sabre%20II "China: J-7 (MiG-21), Flight International magazine, published 19 August 1989, Retrieved: 18 October 2009] Changes included upgrades to its avionics 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.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%201745.html?search=Sabre%20II "Grumman Reveals Sabre II for Pakistan", Flight International magazine, published 19 September 1987, Retrieved: 18 October 2009]

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 so a solid radome nose could house radar and other avionics from Northrop's F-20 "Tigershark" fighter. The Chinese WP-7 turbojet engine was to be replaced with a modern turbofan engine, either the GE F404 or PW1120, to improve performance. The resulting aircraft, designated F-7M Sabre-II,{{citation |first=Eric H. |last=Arnett |title=Military capacity and the risk of war: China, India, Pakistan, and Iran |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-19-829281-4}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=eOgj3HHDnJkC&dq=HIT+Type+85IIAP&pg=PA168 p. 169] 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 {{convert|16000|lbf|kN}} of thrust, was also proposed as the Sabre II's engine. Its afterburner was designed in China.{{Cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%201876.html?search=Sabre%20II|title="Pratt & Whitney's PW1216 turbojet..."}}{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%201859.html |title=1987 | 1859 | Flight Archive |publisher=Flightglobal.com |date=26 September 1987 |accessdate=2010-03-21}} Fitting the APG-66 radar was also planned.{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%202171.html?search=Sabre%20II |title=1991 | 2171 | Flight Archive |publisher=Flightglobal.com |accessdate=2010-03-21}}

=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'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 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. 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 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=

File:Pakistan airforce FC-1 Xiao Long.jpg, in 2003.]]

The Pakistan Air Force 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, 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. {{ISBN|978-9698553005}}.

The PAF hired Russia's Mikoyan Group as consultants, and design studies for the project began at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. 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.{{citation | first = Alan | last = Warnes | title = Pakistan's Vision: Bridging The Capabilities Gap | work = Air Forces Monthly | date = July 2004 | page = 33}} This led to the successful development of the JF-17 Thunder, introduced in 2003.{{cite web|title=JF-17 Thunder Program|url=http://www.paffalcons.com/gallery/jf-17/|publisher=PAF Falcons|accessdate=26 November 2014}}

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References