China was not always an advanced technology nation. In the PRC's first decades, they relied a lot on the Soviet Union for its military equipment. Some of it was obtained directly, some of it was licensed, and some of it was reverse engineered with the Chinese adding updates and modified to meet their own requirements. The F-7 series of aircraft was a bit of both license built and reverse engineered.

Prior to the development of the F-7, China purchased most of its fighters from the Soviet Union, and with those purchases, got a license to build them in China. These aircraft were basically clones of those from the USSR. Relations between the two nations have not always been smooth and for the time period when China was trying to get a license for the MiG-21, things were on the downturn. So the Chinese reverse engineered most of their MiG-21s (locally called the F-7).

After the first initial batch, the airframe was modified from the original MiG-21F-13. The most obvious external difference between these aircraft was the new canopy that wasn't forward hinged, and moving the long pitot from underneath the forward fuselage to atop it. Later versions also relied on Western ejection seats and avionics systems. They also had upgraded engines and other systems. Such was the success of these aircraft, that they extended the life of the legacy MiG-21 decades past when the last one was built in the Soviet Union.

This book looks at the background of the MiG-21 plus the myriad of variations on the Chinese built F-7s. This also includes the two seat FT-7. In addition the various systems developed for these aircraft along with ordnance that can be carried are fully covered. Add to this a myriad of full color images as well as the usual well done full color profiles makes this an excellent book for the enthusiast and modeler alike. Highly recommended. 

January 2026

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