China has developed a cheap, lightweight radar for fighter jets as it bids to supply more such technology to developing nations.

Announcing the breakthrough on Monday, state-owned aviation and defense company AVIC explained that it features a new cooling system and said it will be installed in nearly 1,000 existing Chinese jets, increasing their combat effectiveness.

The Chinese J-10 fighter is one the models due to be upgraded with the new radar. /VCG Photo

The technology should prove attractive to Pakistan, with whom China already has an arrangement to supply fighter jets, and other developing countries, said sources with the AVIC’s Radar Research Institute.