Qatar’s Minister of State for Defense Affairs Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, on a visit to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, paid a visit Saturday to the headquarters of the Pakistani Army’s Special Forces, aeronautical and weapons complexes.
Dr. Al Attiyah was briefed by officials on the history of these facilities, as well as their capabilities and expertise, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
Earlier, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif met Friday with Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah.
They reviewed bilateral relations and the means to enhance them, focusing in particular on military cooperation. They also discussed the latest regional and international developments.
Dr. Al-Attiyah also held separate meetings with Pakistan's Minister of Defense Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Chief of Staff of Pakistani Army General Raheel Sharif, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan Rashad Mahmood and Minister of Defense Production Rana Tanveer Hussain.
The meetings dealt with bilateral relations, particularly in the military field, and the means to enhance them. (QNA)
Qatar recently ordered 8 Pakistani-made Super Mushshak training aircrafts and is showing bigger interest in buying the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, which is a joint production between Pakistan and China.
The PAC JF-17 Thunder, or CAC FC-1 Xiaolong as it is known in China, is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the Chinese Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC).
It can deploy an array of weapon systems, including air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, and a 23 mm GSh-23-2 twin-barrel auto cannon. It has a top speed of Mach 1.63 and is powered by either a Guizhou WS-13 or Klimov RD-93 afterburning turbofan. The JF-17 roughly matches the performance of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, but comes with a cheaper price tag.
Other than offering Qatar all possible technical assistance for setting up military hardware production facilities on Transfer of Technology basis, the Qatari Minister looked into benefiting from Pakistan’s expertise to form a counter-terrorism training academy in Doha.
