page_title: List of Chengdu J-7 variants
section_title: J-7I series
hierarchical_section_title: List of Chengdu J-7 variants / J-7I series
caption_attribution_description: J-7I fighter 模型。拍摄于北京航空博物馆
context_page_description: This is a list of variants and specifications for variants of the Chengdu J-7, which differed considerably between models in its 48 years of production run.
context_section_description: J-7I is the improvement of earlier J-7, with production started in March 1969 after the order was formally given on August 25, 1968. However, the original goal proved to be too ambitious for Chinese aerospace industry at the time, especially during the political turmoil of Cultural Revolution.  The program only succeeded after Tu Jida obtained the permission to drastically reduce the originally planned six major upgrades by half to merely three, when he was named as general designer at the end of 1969 to resolve the production problems and quality issues. Mr. Tu would later become the general designer of many more different models of J-7.
  J-7I: Improved J-7 with an additional gun added on the portside at cost of reducing 100 liters of fuel. Variable intake nosecone replaced the three-stage fixed one in J-7, and thicker intake wall. CL-2 ranging radar with 5 km range replaced earlier CL ranging radar on J-7. Production ended in 1981 after a total of 147 delivered, including upgraded versions such as J-7A and J-7IG, but excluding export versions.
  In the 1960s, as soon as PLAAF received PL-2 air-to-air missile (AAM), J-7Is started to attempt using PL-2 missiles to intercept USAF reconnaissance UAVs. Due to PL-2s' fuse is designed to target larger aircraft, these attempts were unsuccessful to some degree. Later J-7Is successfully shot down unknown numbers of USAF UAVs with guns and air-to-air rockets.
  J-7I for North Korea: 40 late production version of J-7I was provided to North Korea as military aid. Can be distinguished from earlier production versions of J-7I's in that the drag chute is moved to the base of the fin under the rudder, which has since become the standard for all future J-7 models.
  J-7A: Renamed J-7I with new wing pylons allowing 480 liter wing tanks to be carried under wings to make up the loss of fuel when a new gun is added on the portside.
  J-7IG: Further improvement of J-7A, later renamed as J-7II after more modifications. G for Gai (改), meaning modified in Chinese. The inefficient forward-hinged canopy jettisoned with the ejection seat of the Soviet design was replaced by a rearward hinged canopy jettisoned before the ejection of a newly designed domestic Chinese HTY-2 ejection seat.
  F-7A: Export version of J-7I for Egypt with the following change: has a new engine WP-7II (涡喷-7乙, WP is short for Wo-Pen, abbreviation for Wo-Lun Pen-Qi, 涡轮喷气, meaning turbojet in Chinese), with mean time between overhaul (MBTO) increased from 100 hours to 200 hours. CL-2 ranging radar is replaced by more capable Type 222 ranging radar used on J-7II. Type 602 IFF specially designed for export replaced the original YD-3 IFF. Type XU-1 low fuel warning system (@ 500 liter) & Type Hang-Jia (航甲)-11-10 gun camera were both deleted. Chinese is converted to English on flight instruments. Still has the Soviet type ejection system where the forward-hinged canopy jettisoned with the ejection seat. 20 delivered between late 1981 thru early 1982 to Egyptian Air Force (EAF). Egypt would subsequently resell them to Iraq.
  J-7I reusable drone: reusable range instrumentation drone converted from retired J-7Is to support AAM development. Development lasted from 1990 thru 1998, with communication systems, pilot seat/ejection system, armament and other systems not needed for unmanned flight removed. Remote sensing, remote control, automatic flight control system, and range instrumentation system needed to measure and record the off distance of AAM are added. After repeated usage, the last flight of every single one of these drones would be served as another aerial target, just like disposable drones. The reusable aerial range instrumentation drone is the one model in the J-7I series not designed by the general designer Tu Jida.
caption: Model of the late production version of J-7I with the drag chute compartment relocated to the base of the fin under the rudder
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