JH-7 Fighter-Bomber

Last updated: 16 March 2007

In 1973, the Chinese Ministry of Aeronautics (MoA) began the theoretical evaluation on a next-generation supersonic tactical bomber aircraft intended to replace both the H-5 (IL-28 Beagle) light bomber and the Q-5 (Fantan) attacker in the PLA service. The development task was assigned to 603 Aircraft Design Institute based in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. A research team was set up by 603 Institute in early 1974 and team members were sent to the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) and PLA Navy (PLAN) to discuss the requirements for the new bomber.

After studying the specifications submitted by the PLAAF and PLAN, the MoA and 603 Institute concluded that it was possible to develop a single airframe with different weapon and avionics configurations to fulfil the requirements of both services, thus saving the development expenses and time. In February 1977, the State Council and the Central Military Commission jointly authorised the new bomber development programme. 603 Aircraft Design Institute was in charge of the general aircraft design, and 172 Factory (Xi’an Aircraft Facotry, now Xi’an Aircraft Industry Corporation) was responsible for the aircraft manufacturing. The development of the aircraft’s engine was assigned to 430 Factory (Xi’an Aero Engine Factory, XAE). The aircraft was initially designated Hong-7 (H-7) in line with the Chinese bomber designations.

According to the initial design specifications, the H-7 was a multi-role bomber with both air-to-surface and air-to-air capabilities. The aircraft must be able to carry 3,000~5,000kg weapon payload for maritime strike and interdiction missions against medium- and large-size surface ships, front-line naval and air bases, communication hubs, the beach front, and massed troops. The specifications called for an aircraft capable of supersonic speed at low level in all-weather, day/night conditions. The specifications also demanded that the aircraft have a longer range (ferry range >2,800km, combat radius >800km) so that it can take off from second-line air bases. The specifications also demanded that the aircraft has a maximum speed of Mach 1.5 at high level and Mach 0.9 at low level (<500m), and be able to use afterburning to achieve excellent short-field performance.

The PRC displayed a model of its H-7 bomber in the 1988 Farnborough International Air Show (Source: HKZS)

The H-7 bomber was to consist of two variants: the PLAAF variant was to be an all-weather deep-penetration strike bomber, with side-by-side cockpit seating, electronic countermeasures (ECM), and terrain following capabilities similar to the General Dynamics F-111. The Navy variant was for an all-weather, two-seat (tandem), strike/reconnaissance aircraft capable of firing the YJ-8 (C-801) anti-ship missile. The PLAAF variant was dropped in the early 1980s, possibly due to technical difficulties, while the Navy variant completed its concept studies and entered the engineering development stage in 1979.

Like most defence projects in the early 1980s, the H-7 development was almost on a halt in 1980~1981 as the country’s economic development was given a higher priority. Because the PLA desperately needed a replacement for its ageing H-5 bomber, in 1982 the Chinese leadership agreed to give high priority in funding and resource allocations to the H-7 project. The development project resumed full speed in 1984.

To test the YJ-8 anti-ship missile and its fire-control system, 603 Institute converted an H-5 torpedo bomber into an aerial missile testbed known as “Eagle” in 1984. The “Eagle” testbed successfully fired a YJ-8 anti-ship missile on 25 May 1987.

The H-7 programme faced to be cut again in 1985 but was revived in 1986. XAC produced six prototype aircraft in 1987, with one used for static testing and the rest flight testing. The aircraft made its maiden flight on 14 December 1988. Due to the changing requirements and missions, the aircraft was given a new designation JianHong-7 (JH-7).

A small number (~24) pre-production variant JH-7 was delivered to the PLA Naval Air Force (PLANAF) 6th Air Division based at Dachang Air Station in Shanghai in 1992. These aircraft have remained more involved with test and evaluation work than the operational activities. The JH-7 was first revealed to the public during the 1995~96 “Taiwan Strait Crisis” when the Chinese state television broadcasted footages of the aircraft in the PLA exercises near the Taiwan Strait. The aircraft was officially design finalised in 1998.

First JH-7 Photo: The JH-7 had been developed under tight security and high secrecy. The first clear photo of the aircraft only began to speculate on Internet in early 1998, almost ten years after the aircraft first flew. The aircraft was officially declassified during the 1998 Zhuhai Air Show (Source: Chinese Internet)

The prototypes and pre-production variant JH-7s were all powered by the Rolls-Royce Spey Mk202 turbofan engines imported from Britain in 1975. China’s initial efforts to produce a locally built copy of the engine were unsuccessful. As a result, China imported an additional 50 ex-RAF surplus Spey Mk202 engines from Britain in 2001. These engines were used to support the production of 20 JH-7s in the formal production variant for the PLANAF in 2002~2004.

603 Institute began to develop an improved variant JH-7A with better avionics and weapon suite in the late 1990s, possibly under some assistance of Russia. The batch production variant of the aircraft is powered by the Chinese indigenous WS-9 Qinling turbofan engine, a licensed copy of the Spey Mk202 which was design certified in 2003. The PLAAF, which initially rejected the basic variant JH-7, finally agreed to accept the JH-7A as its interdiction and attack aircraft replacing the H-5 and Q-5. A small number (~20) of the aircraft was delivered to the PLAAF 28th Air Division in late 2004.