Exported J-7

Further to this discussion and percieved idea that the South African Air Force was/is might, please go to and read that thread. A guy by the name Spice is the one with 1st hand accounts of the South African war with Angola and how in the end they were happy to be home.

As I added to the thread, it was my understanding too that by the late 80s SAAF was no longer superior.

pngwerume said:

Came across this report:

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I think there are inaccuracies. He has posted his email address so he is expecting some responces. maybe Invote him over to the forum.

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Actually, Nigeria's decision to pay that much money for F-7s is strange to me too. The only sound explanation is that the package covers all the missiles, training and servicing over the period (which does jack up prices), but the author isn't really that well informed.

For example, F-8 would not be a better purchase for Nigeria over F-7 despite its superior capability due to the much higher maintenance cost of F-8. Yes, it would've made more sense if Nigeria waited for FC-1, but I guess you make certain decisions at certain times.

tphuang said:

Actually, Nigeria's decision to pay that much money for F-7s is strange to me too. The only sound explanation is that the package covers all the missiles, training and servicing over the period (which does jack up prices), but the author isn't really that well informed.

For example, F-8 would not be a better purchase for Nigeria over F-7 despite its superior capability due to the much higher maintenance cost of F-8. Yes, it would've made more sense if Nigeria waited for FC-1, but I guess you make certain decisions at certain times.

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Well author really isn’t to well inform; he even mentioned non existent use of F-22 in operation”Allied force”…

Nevertheless he has some good points… F-7 purchase was not cheep; aircraft is basically point defense fighter, lacks decent strike capabilities, range and weapons variety and his right that F-7 is only useful as supplement to more capable fighters…

Also he made quite accurate estimate of current Nigerian external and internal security threats… Whit problems in Niger delta region you could expect that Nigeria would put more emphasis on COIN missions rather then air control.

Now if we look at costs of F-7 deal it is surprisingly high even if article is right and price includes purchase of 19 air-to-air missiles and Chinese technical support for three years.

It seems to me that Nigeria could make better deal if they bought some upgraded MiG-21 lancers or modernized Israeli Kfir's c10 as multirole fighters plus some K-8 for training and COIN missions.

Ps. I have seen some speculations that F-7 were refurbished and not newly build (Jane's and some other western sources); also only 19 AAM's? That's surprisingly small missile purchase.

This recent purchase of 12 F-7s is the ONLY F-7 purchase Nigeria has done. Am I correct? Nigeria had Mig-21s but not F-7s?

I am still trying to pin down the specifications of the Zimbabwean F-7IINs. Some one one forum had speculated that the N was for Nigeria therefore Zimbabwean F-7s are the same specification as Nigerian one. My reasoning is Nigeria is getting its F-7s 15-20 years later than Zimbabwe there the Zim ACs cannot be to Nigerian specs.

I have also read somewhere that the N of AFZ’s planes is for “night”. They are F-7II enhanced for night capability and 4 weapon stations. ??

The ones that Nigeria got should be the F-7PG, which is an upgrade over F-7P in terms of flight performance and avionics.

pngwerume said:

This recent purchase of 12 F-7s is the ONLY F-7 purchase Nigeria has done. Am I correct? Nigeria had Mig-21s but not F-7s?

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Yes you are right; Nigeria had MiG-21MFs if I’m not mistaken… Western sources speculated that F-7N was actually refurbished ex. PLAAF examples… Naturally since that are speculations I was interested could that be true?

Also as I had said price tag seems quite high even whit weapon and maintenance… If I’m not mistaken Bangladesh paid almost the same price for MiG-29s…
Does anyone know is Nigeria really bought only 19 air to air missiles and which missiles are they bought; PL-8 or PL-9?

I guess if i were the Air Force head (Zimbabwe, Nigeria or which ever country), I will leave people to speculate/guess as to the exact specifications of my equipment. Does enybody know/have confirmed infomation on the versions? i have searched hi and low in the internet but nothing on F-7IIN. Some say Zimbabwe does have F-7Ms but the few photos i have seen show the boom at the from located at the bottom. Only about 3 or 4 AFZ F-7s have been photographed.

Anybody subscribes to ?

Considering the price, and that we don't know which version the Nigerians purchased, why should one proposed refurbished 2nd hand planes?

Why is it not possible that maybe Nigeria got the much advanced spec F-7s and likely new?

Considering they were already operation Mig-21s, maybe they choose a high spec F-7 because they could use common facilities as were/are used by the Migs, saving on training, maintenance and infrastructure.

Just a thought!

Apologies for spreading my posts/replies. After I finish one, I come up with another question.

DRC (Congo - Kinshasa) bought some F-7s. Any hints which ones version they are?

Continuing on the F-7 news, there has been a slight update on huitong's site regarding F-7.

"The latest rumor claimed that North Korea ordered 6 (F-7KG?). "

Yeah, I'm not sure where he got the rumour that the North Koreans got some F-7s, but it's there.

This thread clearly shows many countries can only afford cheap and effective fighter aircrafts below USD 5 million for their defence. Not to mention foreign fighters, latest Chinese aircrafts such J-8H, JF17 and J10A are clearly much too costly for countries with budgetary constraints. Therefore I think that China should continue to upgrade J-7 because of the huge market potential.

Great information