Hongdu/PAC K-8 Karakorum

The K-8 Karakorum, known in China as the Hongdu JL-8, is a two-seat intermediate jet trainer and light attack aircraft developed jointly by China and Pakistan. The two governments proposed the cooperation in 1986, and Pakistan's president Zia ul Haq suggested the name Karakoram-8 to mark the friendship between the countries. Design work began in 1987 at Nanchang, with a Chinese team of more than 100 engineers and about 20 from Pakistan, and the first flight took place on 21 November 1990. Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation is the primary contractor, while Pakistan Aeronautical Complex took part in the design and its Aircraft Manufacturing Factory has built later aircraft for the Pakistan Air Force, which received its first six in 1994 and later ordered 75 more to replace its Cessna T-37 trainers. It is a low-wing monoplane with tandem seating and a single turbofan engine, and it also serves in the air forces of Egypt, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.