F-7 Skybolt

J-7 / F-7 Airguard
An upgraded Chengdu F-7PG of the Pakistan Air Force
Role	Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer	Chengdu Aircraft Corporation/Guizhou Aircraft Industry Corporation
First flight	January 17, 1966
Status	Operational
Primary users	People's Liberation Army Air Force Pakistan Air Force Bangladesh Air Force Korean People's Air Force
Produced	1965–2017
Number built	2,400+
Developed from	Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
Developed into	Guizhou JL-9

The Chengdu J-7 (: 歼-7; third generation export version F-7; NATO Code: Fishbed) is a People's Republic of China license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. Though production ceased in 2013, it continues to serve, mostly as an interceptor, in several air forces, including the People's Liberation Army Air Force. The J-7 was extensively re-developed into the CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder, which became a successor to the type.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union shared most of its conventional weapons technology with the People's Republic of China. The famous MiG-21, powered by a single engine and designed on a simple airframe, were inexpensive but fast, suiting the strategy of forming large groups of 'people's fighters' to overcome the technological advantages of Western aircraft. However, the Sino-Soviet split abruptly ended the initial cooperation, and from July 28 to September 1, 1960, the Soviet Union withdrew its advisers from China, resulting in the project being stopped in China.

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev unexpectedly wrote to Mao Zedong in February, 1962, to inform Mao that the Soviet Union was willing to transfer MiG-21 technology to China, and he asked the Chinese to send their representatives to the Soviet Union as soon as possible to discuss the details. The Chinese viewed this offer as a Soviet gesture to make peace, and they were understandably suspicious, but they were nonetheless eager to take up the Soviet offer for an aircraft deal. A delegation headed by General Liu Yalou, the commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and himself a Soviet military academy graduate, was dispatched to Moscow immediately, and the Chinese delegation was given three days to visit the production facility of the MiG-21, which was previously off-limits to foreigners. The authorization for this visit was personally given by Nikita Khrushchev, and on March 30, 1962, the technology transfer deal was signed. However, given the political situation and the relationship between the two countries, the Chinese were not optimistic about gaining the technology, and thus they were prepared for reverse engineering.

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