j7 / j8 production

A bit OT, but does anyone have a cockpit photo of the latest J-8F/H cockpit?

The last one I saw was for J-8D and it still looked like an upgraded MiG-21 cockpit:


Which still looked quite primitive comparred to even the K-8V:


We used to have a couple of great pics of J-7E cockpit on our web site, but I can't find them anymore.

chicket9 said:

J-7 with BVR and PGM is not new


J-7FS was a test aircraft with a much larger radar housed in a much modified nose and air intake That was just a test though.

J-7MF had heaps of hype I remember back in Zhuhai air show (2002 I think?), as it appeared with a much redesigned nose which housed a BVR radar, and we saw on the model 2x PL8 and 2x PL11 AAMs. It was claimed this was to compete with FC-1 as a cheaper alternative. A second model was seen with LGBs. However, the hype has largely died down, and the development has probably favoured J-7G instead. Considering FC-1 and J-7 are from the same company....I think the company has placed more hope on FC-1.

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Yea, and if China wants a BVR J-7, they can just drop research, since they already have the FC-1 and J-7FS. No need to research, buying these are fine. Researching would be like reinventing the wheel.

Can't the J-7 relocate its gears further back? Putting the pylons out so far can ruin its manuverability, and is simply space wasting. (They can probably put on another pylon if they wish.)

The FC-1's weapon stations are much closer to its landing gear than the J-7. (Looks like it is touching it, or right in front of it.)



How much J-7Hs and Bs are there?

tphuang said:

btw Crobato, any idea what happpened to Rick Kramer's site. I've been trying to look up on the plaaf orbat, but it's down, so I basically have no where to go.

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I have no idea. That's bad, since I often have to rely on his site too.

adeptitus said:

A bit OT, but does anyone have a cockpit photo of the latest J-8F/H?

The last one I saw was for J-8D and it still looked like an upgraded MiG-21 cockpit:

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Which still looked quite primitive comparred to even the K-8V:

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We used to have a couple of great pics of J-7E cockpit on our web site, but I can't find them anymore.

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I think the first is the J-8B cockpit not the J-8D cockpit. The J-8D cockpit has one MFD, similar to the F-8IIM cockpit. The J-8H cockpit is said to have two MFDs on top of the dashboard.

crobato said:

I think the first is the J-8B cockpit not the J-8D cockpit. The J-8D cockpit has one MFD, similar to the F-8IIM cockpit. The J-8H cockpit is said to have two MFDs on top of the dashboard.

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I did find a pic of J-8IIM cockpit:



He's got a couple of interesting photos there too:



So far, I have yet to see any pics of J-8F/H cockpit... I find it a bit strange, since they didn't hestiate to invite a US admiral to sit in the cockpit of a JH-7 or release photos of the cockpit instruements.

Sumdud wrote:

Can't the J-7 relocate its gears further back?

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No, they'd have to install them on the flaps. if you meant that they should be put further back on the fuselage, that implies a major redesigning process - it's just not worth it. IMHO the J-7 has reached the end of its evolution with J-7G and J-7FS (J-7III) if the latter ever gets built on a large scale. The only further development could be the JL-9, but that plane has the whole front part redesigned.

And there is nearly no space ahead of the gear for the pylons to relocate closer to the body?

Actually, if the JF-17 can have weapons much closer to its gear, why can't the MiG? Airflow problem?

the issue is not about pylons being close to the landing gear, its that on j7 landing gear takes up too much useful space. on jf-17 landing gear comes from underneath the air intakes with tires themselves also under those intakes. with j7 being so narrow, it cant possibly have landing gear that come from the fuselage as itd be too narrow and too unstable. so landing gear comes out of half the wing and folds up in such a way that tire part goes underneath the fuselage. Nice solution for ww2 fighters but it makes the inner half (third or whatever) of wing unusable for pylons as thats where the landing gear folds up.

j7 design should be let to die. chengdu made the best mig21 derivative airframe possible, it served its purpose, it will probably serve some 5-10 years more but jf-17 would be SO much better. I only hope 10 million $ is a realistic pricetag, otherwise if we're talking bout larger sums there's little hope we'll see it in plaaf in any meaningful numbers.

if bvr ends up being not overrated then j8 has quite some life in it, with newer versions with new radar and pl12. I wouldn't be surprised if they last in plaaf all the way till jxx gets in service.

Someone on Chinese forum said he visited CAC a few days back and apparently the J-7 production in the first half of the year went through the roofs. He saw at least 30 new J-7s produced (whether for domestic or export). We might see more than 50 J-7/F-7s this year.

He saw at least 30 new J-7s produced

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Well, out of the 16 planes ordered by Bangladesh only 8 were delivered in March this year, so the other 8 should be among those spotted. Add to that the 12 ordered by Nigeria and some for the PLAAF and the claim seems possible.