Chengdu J-7

The Chengdu J-7, sold abroad as the F-7 and known to NATO as Fishcan, is a Chinese fighter that is a license-built derivative of the Soviet MiG-21. China and the Soviet Union signed a technology transfer agreement for the MiG-21 on 30 March 1962, but the design documents were incomplete, so Chinese engineers reverse engineered much of the aircraft and redesigned its hydraulics, fuel tanks and cockpit. Production was shared among the Shenyang, Chengdu and Guizhou factories, and the first flight came on 17 January 1966, yet the Cultural Revolution slowed output so badly that full-scale production was reached only in the 1980s. The J-7 is armed with infrared homing air-to-air missiles for short-range combat and also flew close air support. Pakistan is the largest export user outside China. Production ended in 2013 after deliveries of the F-7BGI to Bangladesh, and the PLAAF retired its own fleet in 2023.