Warplanes: June 17, 2003

Archives

The first flight of the Chinese FC-1 (or "Super 7") fighter is now supposed to take place later this year. The redesign of the Chinese J-7 (a MiG 21 clone) began in the 1980s with American warplane builder Grumman as a partner. But this fell apart in the early 1990s and the Russians and Israelis took over. The Super 7 will have an Israeli Elta-2032 radar for fire control, and a Russian RD-93 turbofan engine. The development project may be slow, but it is also cheap, with a total investment of les than $250 million, including $75 million from Pakistan, with the rest from the Chinese government. The Super-7 is mainly for export, with the major customer being Pakistan (to replace the 120 F-7M/P fighters they already have.) If the Super 7 performs well, the Chinese Air Force may use this aircraft as well. Originally, the Super 7 was seen as a replacement for American F-5s and Russian MiG-21s in third world air forces. But when the Russians joined the project, they turned the design into a continuation of their 1980s R33 project. This means that, potentially, the Super 7 could be more like the F-16 than an improved MiG-21. Even so, the Chinese plan to sell the Super 7 for less than $15 million each, less than half of what a current F-16 costs. 


 


Article Archive

Warplanes: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close