J-7 Fighter Aircraft

Last updated: 3 August 2008

The J-7 (Jian-7, or F-7 in its export name) is a Chinese copy of the Soviet Union/Russian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (NATO codename: Fishbed) supersonic jet fighter aircraft. Over 1,000 examples in different variants have been built by three aircraft manufacturers in Shenyang, Chengdu, and Guizhou since the production first began in the late 1970s. As well as serving with the PLA, the J-7 was also exported to Albania, Bangladesh, Burma, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The J-7 is still in production today and serves in the air forces of several countries, mostly as an interceptor fighter.

The MiG-21/J-7 was designed as an interceptor fighter with secondary capability for ground attack. The aircraft’s simple controls, engine, weapons, and avionics were typical of Soviet-era military designs. The fighter has a small sized airframe with a rugged and powerful engine inside. With its delta wings the aircraft has an excellent fast-climbing performance, but any form of turning combat would led to rapid loss of speed. The pilot is buried deeply in the cockpit and has a poor cockpit visibility. The aircraft has a short range, and can only take IR-homing short-range air-to-air missiles for visual range combat, making it only suitable for point air defence.

J-7 Prototype

	The J-7 prototype developed by Shenyang Aircraft Factory (Chinese Internet)

The MiG-21 (NATO codename: Fishbed) fighter was designed by Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union the late 1950s as a counter to the Western Mach 2 fighter aircraft introduced in the post-Korean War era, such as the U.S. F-104 Starfighter and French Dassault Mirage III. When the aircraft was first introduced, the PLA showed strong interest in the aircraft, but its request for acquisition or technology transfer was initially reject by Moscow. In 1961, the then Soviet leader Khrushchev suddenly sent invitation for Chinese delegates to visit Moscow to discuss the transfer of the MiG-21 technology. This shift of attitude was viewed as a goodwill gesture from Khrushchev in exchange for Beijing’s support for Moscow’s leader status in the Communist Block.

In March 1961, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Soviet Union signed the official agreement of a technology transfer package, which allowed China to build the MiG-21F-13 Fishbed-C) fighter, the Tumansky R-11F-300 turbojet engine, and the K-13 (NATO codename: AA-2 Atoll) air-to-air missile (AAM) locally under license. The production of the MiG-21 was carried out by Shenyang Aircraft Factory (now Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, SAC), while Shenyang Aero Engine Factory (now Shenyang Liming Aero Engine Company) was responsible for the production of the R-11F-300 turbojet engine.

Shenyang received few MiG-21 examples as well as some kits for assembly from the Soviet Union. However, the delivery of the technical documents was not completed due to the rapidly deteriorating relation between Beijing and Moscow. As a result, Shenyang had to build the MiG-21 by reverse-engineering. A significant amount of survey and testing on the aircraft was carried out. Although this process has caused some delay in the development programme, it enabled the Chinese engineers to fully understand the aircraft design, making it possible for future modifications and improvements.

The Chinese copy of the MiG-21 was originally named Type 62 and this was later changed to Jian-7 (J-7) in line with the PLAAF’s fighter aircraft designations. A successful static test of the J-7 was carried out in November 1965. The first J-7 (serial number ‘0002’) with 100% Chinese-made content made its maiden flight in January 1966. The Chinese copy of the Tumansky R-11F-300 turbojet engine, known as WP-7, was successfully tested in October 1965. The engine was certified for production in December 1966. The J-7 fighter was certified for production finalisation in June 1967.

Between 1966 and 1968, PLAAF J-7 fighters shot down six U.S.-made high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over the Chinese territory. These scores were achieved with the aircraft 30mm cannon and unguided air-to-air rockets. The PLAAF J-7s also made several attempts to shoot the UAVs with their PL-2 (K-13/AA-2 copy) AAM but none was successful.

J-7I

	The J-7I fighter in service with the PLA Air Force in the 1970s (Chinese Internet)

In the mid-1960s, the Chinese government ordered that the J-7 development and production facilities to be relocate to the remote southwest region. The J-7 production was reassigned to the newly built Chengdu Aircraft Manufacturing Factory (now Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation, CAC) in Sichuan Province. The WP-7 turbojet production was also handed over to Liyang Aerial Engine Company in Guizhou Province in 1968.

Chengdu modified the J-7 design from 1969 to 1975. The resulted J-7I variant was introduced in June 1976. The J-7I development was severely disrupted by the ‘Culture Revolution’. By the time this variant entered service, the J-7 fighter design had already become obsolete. Additionally, the J-7I suffered from some serious design flaws and was built in poor quality. As a result, the fighter only saw limited service with the PLA. The J-7I variant was entirely retired from active service in the early 1990s, with some examples converted into unmanned supersonic target drones.

The J-7I differed to the original J-7 design by adding a second cannon inside the left wing-root, and replacing the original three-position nose inlet centre-body with a fully translating design. The aircraft carries two indigenous PL-2 (K-13/AA-2 copy) IR-homing short-range AAM under the wings.

F-7A

The F-7A is the export variant of the J-7I. It is powered by an improved 58.8kN thrust WP-7B turbojet engine replacing the original 56.39kN thrust WP-7. The engine also featured an increased overhaul time. The break chute was relocated at base of rudder to improve the landing performance and shorten run. This variant was supplied to Albania and Tanzania in the 1970s.