List of Chengdu J-7 variants

As a result of the political turmoil caused, early production J-7s suffered quality issues that lasted into the 1980s, well after the end of the Cultural Revolution.

However, the original goal proved to be too ambitious for the Chinese aerospace industry at the time, especially during the political turmoil of Cultural Revolution.

The program only succeeded after general designer Tu Jida obtained the permission to drastically reduce the originally planned six major upgrades to merely three.

Originally intended for domestic use but that plan was cancelled after the budget was cut, the series became a major export success, and received the name Air Guard.

Most models of the series are equipped with British avionics, which were later on produced in China as part of a technology transfer deal.

After 10 rounds of negotiation that lasted 16 months, a deal was signed on June 30, 1980, which included a technology transfer.

The entire J-/F-7M Air Guard program took six years to complete, the models produced are listed below: Pakistan did not purchase any F-7Ms and later returned the 2 F-7Ms to China after evaluation.

Evaluation by the PAF led to the conclusion that with the exception of range, the F-7 Sky Bolt series outperforms the Dassault Mirage 5 in every aspect.

Due to their relatively large size, the nosecone had to be enlarged, resulting in an increase in drag.

The J-7E (NATO reporting name: Fishcan-D[58]) is the day fighter series of the J-7 that utilizes a double delta wing which greatly improved maneuverability from previous models.

It was decided that in order to maintain good maneuverability, the series would not be equipped with fire control radar or medium range AAMs.

In the 1990s, export of F-7 series had significantly dropped from its peak in the 1980s when China failed to secure any new orders in the decade.

Improvements of F-7BGI over F-7BG such as 3 MFDs and more powerful fire control radar would in turn, incorporated to J-7G2 developed later.