Manufacturer catalog

Hongdu Aviation Industry Group and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex

Hongdu Aviation Industry Group and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex form the Chinese-Pakistani industrial partnership behind the K-8 Karakorum trainer family, combining Hongdu's aircraft-design role with PAC Aircraft Manufacturing Factory production work at Kamra.

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The Hongdu-PAC relationship is centered on the K-8 Karakorum, a basic and advanced jet trainer that PAC says was co-developed by its Aircraft Manufacturing Factory at Kamra and China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company. Reference and defense-industry sources describe the same aircraft family as a Hongdu-designed or Hongdu-produced trainer with Pakistani structural and co-production involvement.

PAC's own history places the K-8 program inside a broader shift from aircraft overhaul into indigenous manufacturing. After establishing AMF for the Mushshak trainer, PAC says the Pakistan-China program culminated in a jet trainer co-designed and produced in 1994, with AMF continuing to manufacture roughly one fifth of the K-8 structure.

trainer aircraftjet trainer productionjoint Sino-Pakistani manufacturingairframe manufacturing

Notable Systems

K-8 Karakorum trainer aircraft, Jet trainer / light attack aircraft, Aircraft & UAVs

K-8 Karakorum trainer aircraft

Jet trainer / light attack aircraft

Core Chinese-Pakistani jet trainer family, described by PAC as co-developed by AMF at Kamra and China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

Sources: PAC K-8 page, Myanmar Witness K-8 profile, K-8 Karakorum project profile
K-8 Karakorum trainer aircraft, Jet trainer / light attack aircraft, Aircraft & UAVs

K-8P Pakistan trainer variant

Jet trainer / light attack aircraft

Pakistan-specific K-8 branch documented by PAC technical data, with AMF credited for K-8 structural manufacturing at Kamra.

Sources: PAC K-8 page, PAC Aircraft Manufacturing Factory

Manufacturer History

  1. PAC establishes Aircraft Manufacturing Factory

    PAC says AMF was established in 1975 for licensed trainer-aircraft manufacturing, creating the manufacturing organization that later entered the K-8 jet-trainer program.

    Sources: PAC Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, PAC history

  2. K-8 prototype manufacture starts

    GlobalSecurity records January 1989 as the start of prototype manufacture after China and Pakistan agreed to jointly develop the K-8 Karakorum jet trainer.

    Sources: K-8 Karakorum program developments

  3. K-8 first flight

    GlobalSecurity and Aviation Week both place the K-8 first flight in 1990, with GlobalSecurity identifying 21 November 1990 as the flight-test date.

    Sources: K-8 Karakorum program developments, Hongdu/PAC K-8

  4. PAC records K-8 co-production milestone

    PAC's history says the Pakistan-China K-8 project culminated in production of a jet trainer co-designed and produced by Pakistan and China in 1994.

    Sources: PAC history

Website links
PAC K-8 pagePAC productsPAC home pagePAC historyPAC Aircraft Manufacturing FactoryGlobalSecurity K-8 program developmentsAviation Week Hongdu/PAC K-8Hongdu company profile

Hongdu and PAC are separate state-linked aerospace organizations. Public sources describe their joint role chiefly for the K-8/JL-8 family, with Hongdu, Nanchang, CATIC, and PAC responsibilities varying by source and variant.

Manufacturer Sources

  • PAC K-8 pagePublisher: Pakistan Aeronautical Complex | Note: Supports the K-8 program's PAC co-development role and the aircraft's joint Chinese-Pakistani production context. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • PAC productsPublisher: Pakistan Aeronautical Complex | Note: Supports the K-8 trainer family's PAC product listing and the published wording that the aircraft is co-developed with a Chinese partner. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • PAC home pagePublisher: Pakistan Aeronautical Complex | Note: Supports PAC's official organization name, Kamra base, and manufacturing focus. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • PAC historyPublisher: Pakistan Aeronautical Complex | Note: Supports PAC's Kamra address, the establishment of AMF, the 1994 K-8 co-design and production milestone, and AMF's continuing K-8 structural-manufacturing role. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • PAC Aircraft Manufacturing FactoryPublisher: Pakistan Aeronautical Complex | Note: Supports AMF's establishment, aircraft-manufacturing role, K-8 structural-part manufacturing, and PAC's aircraft-production capabilities at Kamra. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Hongdu company profilePublisher: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Note: Supports Hongdu's public company naming variants, official website, and corporate identity context as a Chinese aircraft manufacturer. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Myanmar Witness K-8 profilePublisher: Centre for Information Resilience | Note: Supports the K-8 as a Hongdu-designed aircraft jointly manufactured with Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • K-8 Karakorum project profilePublisher: Airforce Technology | Note: Supports the K-8 as a joint Hongdu and PAC trainer aircraft program and provides general program background. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • K-8 Karakorum program developmentsPublisher: GlobalSecurity.org | Note: Supports the China-Pakistan joint-development framing, Hongdu design role, prototype-manufacture date, first-flight date, and early delivery context. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Hongdu/PAC K-8Publisher: Aviation Week | Note: Supports the Hongdu/PAC production pairing and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex component-production share reported for the K-8. | Accessed: 2026-07-11

Produced weapons

Category

Aircraft & UAVs

Crewed aircraft, drones, and loitering munitions.

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