For the sake of objectivity, I must say that Pakistan seems to have got a decent deal with the J-17. I am not really sure how much of a "technical involvement" they really had, but for $250 million with a per/unit cost of $15-20 million I'd say it's a pretty good deal (this of course assuming that there won't be major maintainence issues). Invariably comparisons to the HAL-LCA Tejas will be made ad-nauseum; in which case it should be noted that the J-17 has a longer range and a higher service ceiling. I do however think that the Israeli electronic systems incorporated into the Tejas are probably better than the chinese ones. Eventually it all comes down to the BVR (beyond visual range) technology and most of all the competence of the pilots on either side. However, I have no credible information on this.
