[1] The PC-7 was developed from the preceding piston-powered Pilatus P-3,[1] largely differing by the adoption of a turboprop engine, a bubble canopy, and a new one-piece wing.

[4] During 1973, it was decided to restart work on the programme; factors for its revival had included the 1973 oil crisis, the launch of the rival Beechcraft T-34C Turbo-Mentor, and the increasing age of existing trainer aircraft.

Further extensive modifications followed later in the programme, including the adoption of a new one-piece wing complete with integral fuel tanks, along with an altered tail fin and a bubble canopy.

[7] The PC-7 Mk.II M is a development of the PC-9's airframe and avionics, which was powered by the PC-7's smaller turbine engine, which reportedly achieved lower operating and maintenance costs.

[8] A batch of 60 PC-7 Mk.II Ms were locally assembled in South Africa using kits supplied by Pilatus for the SAAF; due to political considerations, these aircraft were not fitted with the armament hardpoints.

During the late 1990s, Israeli engineering firm Radom began offering a kit of new avionics for the type, which included a new mission computer, a wide-angle head-up display, along with various replacement communications and weapons-delivery systems.

The Swiss government has occasionally held up or outright refused to issue export licences for some nations, a move which has reportedly led to the loss of several potential sales, such as to South Korea and Mexico.

[24] In 1994, the Mexican Air Force used several armed PC-7s to attack units of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation during the Chiapas conflict in Mexico.

This action was considered illegal by the Swiss government because the aeroplanes were sold for training purposes only, and as result, Switzerland issued a ban on the sale of additional units to Mexico.

[25] At the time, the Mexican Air Force was the largest single export operator of the type, and had been seeking to acquire further PC-7s, thus the sales ban was viewed as an economic blow to Pilatus.

[26][27] During the late 2000s, the Chadian Air Force reportedly used its small fleet of PC-7s to bomb rebel positions both in their own territory and in neighbouring Sudan.