The Q-5, J-7, J-8 and older PLAAF aircraft

Well that would explain why they would have the PLAAF emblem if enthusiasts have the aircraft but they already left the states and are in Peru. Looks like they'll be heading eastward from there. If they cross Europe... maybe. But from those pics it doesn't look like Europe. Slim pickings from there on if they're enthusiast-owned. But then I guess it would have to be privately-owned somewhere in China.

Re: »Ø¸´: The J-7 and older PLAAF aircraft

Igor said:

The J-7's are very quick little interceptors. Surely if armed with modern air to air weapons, the platform remains relevant?

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The J7 also has short legs, meaning you needs lots of them deployed throughout the country to get good coverage.

The J7s' nose is too small to house a big enough radar to make use of BVR weapons at anywhere close to optimal range, and the J7 itself will not be able to fly fast or high enough to give its BVR missiles as much energy as a more modern platform.

The latest J7Gs are very capable little dogfighters that can give even Flankers a hard time in WVR, but that is all it is good for, which is increasingly not good enough. That is why the PLAAF close the production line.

The JF17 is probably a good indication of what a low-end fighter needs to be in this day and age, and even that might not be good enough for the PLAAF as they have still not placed any orders for the type yet.

They might have painted private planes in PLAAF colors for their show.

siegecrossbow said:

CJ-5s are very popular amongst American aviation enthusiasts. Those are definitely not PLAAF CJ-5s but probably one of the CJ-5s sold to the states during the 80s.

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One of the trainer has a clear registration number of ZU-EMF. It is registered in South Africa, ZU is for "non-type certified aircraft".

J-7s flown by experienced pilots managed to down J-11s flown by beginner pilots in a recent "Red vs. Blue" exercise. The J-7s employed a "hug the terrain" tactic and surprised the flankers at short range. Goes to show that pilot skills are important in engagements like these.

this is pretty common back in the days. When su-27s first joined PLAAF, they were frequently outperformed by J-7s in DACT. It wasn't until they got more familiarized with su-27s and learnt how to employ them better that they were able to win more of the engagements. It's certainly not that hard to believe experienced J-7 fighter an win against J-11.

AssassinsMace said:

Here's something interesting. I came across a new US TV show called Around the World in 80 Ways. Basically two Americans are trying to travel around the world without using the same mode of transportation more than once. So in the end they show scenes of upcoming episodes and they seem to be flying in a couple PLAAF prop planes. It would be hard to believe they're private aircraft. So did the PLAAF accomodate a couple of Americans for their TV show?

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Well they just showed the episode. They were flying over... Namibia? Unless these were aircraft given during the Cold War, that's odd. And it did look like Westerners were flying them.

Me again with a maybe silly question !

Does anyone know why the J-7/MiG-21F-13 was "delivered" to China regardless the Sino-Soviet break in 1960 ... at least the negotiations which must have started in the very early 1960s were surely "influenced" by that relationship-cool-down. So was is an attempt to re-warm them as a political attempt/consideration or what's the reason behind that step ?

Cheers, Deino

The MIG-21 first flew in 1956, so there would have been opportunity to acquire licence rights even before relations got tense in 1958.

Many small countries really don't need to spend too much money for their airforces. They don't need F-22, F-35, J-20, not even F16, Su-27, Mig-20, J-10, JF-17. This is a good upgrade for them-A JL-9