page_title: Xi'an JH-7
section_title: JH-7A
hierarchical_section_title: Xi'an JH-7 / Development history / JH-7A
caption_attribution_description: A Chinese JH-7A fighter/bomber at the Beijing Military Museum during the "Our troops towards the sky" exhibition
context_page_description: The Xi'an JH-7, also known as the FBC-1 Flying Leopard, is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber in service with the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force, and the People's Liberation Army Air Force. The main contractors are Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation and the 603rd Aircraft Design Institute.
  The first JH-7s were delivered to the PLANAF in the mid-1990s for evaluation, with the improved JH-7A entering service in 2004.
context_section_description: When the PLA examined the future role of air forces, it identified a need for precision air-to-surface capability. An improved JH-7, the JH-7A, was designed to meet this requirement. The JH-7A's general  and deputy general designers were Tang Changhong (唐长红) and Wu Jieqin (吴介琴) respectively.
  The JH-7A had a lighter and stronger airframe than the JH-7, allowing the newer aircraft to carry a maximum ordnance load of 9,000 kg. In PLANAF, this allowed four YJ-82 anti-ship missiles to be carried, compared to the two on the JH-7.
  The JH-7A is equipped with domestic Chinese helmet mounted sight (HMS) for evaluation, and this HMS currently being tested is developed by Xi'an Optronics Group (Xi Guang Ji Tuan 西光集团), a member of Northern Electro-Optic Co. Ltd (北方光电股份有限公司), the wholly owned subsidiary of Norinco, and the HMS on JH-7A was developed from the helicopter HMS manufactured by the same company, thus both share many common components. HMS tested on JH-7A is compatible with air-to-air/surface missiles, and it is also compatible with airborne sensors such as radars and electro-optics so that the sensors are slaved to HMS, enabling the fast tracking and aiming of the weaponry. The cockpit of JH-7A still retains some traditional single function dial indicators, but there are two large color liquid crystal display multi-function displays which can be monochrome if pilots choose. Other avionic upgrades of JH-7 include: replacing Type 960-2 noise jammer with BM/KJ-8605, replacing Type 265A radar altimeter with Type 271 radar altimeter, fully digitized fly-by-wire flight control system, and in addition, Type 232H airborne radar is replaced by JL-10A pulse-Doppler radar, enabling JH-7A to fire laser-guided bombs and Kh-31P anti-radiation missiles. The existing JH-7s were upgraded with JH-7A electronics. Two additional hardpoints increased the total to 6 from the original 4, and one-piece windscreen replaced the original three-piece windscreen.
  The JH-7A was the first Chinese aircraft to use paperless design, and the software used was CATIA V5.
caption: JH-7A at the Beijing Military Museum during the "Our troops towards the sky" exhibition
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