How China improved its combat aircraft based on Soviet fighters received from Egypt
Until the mid-1970s, one of the largest recipients of the then modern Soviet weapons was Egypt. However, a few years after the defeat in "War In 1979, with the mediation of Washington, a peace treaty was signed with Israel, ending the war between the two countries and establishing diplomatic and economic relations between them.
After the conclusion of the Camp David Agreement, American experts, in exchange for supplies of American weapons, were able to study in detail the Soviet-made weapons available in Egypt, and the samples that most interested them were exported to the United States for testing.
Around the same time, the United States officially recognized the PRC, and defense cooperation began between Washington and Beijing on the basis of anti-Sovietism. In addition to Western weapons and technology, the Chinese, with the sanction of the American administration, also gained access to some air defense systems and combat aircraft produced in the USSR. Chinese specialists were very interested in new types and modifications of air defense systems and fighters, structurally and technologically similar to those that the PLA already had. Subsequently, based on individual samples and technical documentation received from Egypt, the PRC created new or modernized existing anti-aircraft systems and combat aircraft.
Modernization of Chinese J-7 fighters based on Egyptian MiG-21s and delivery of J-7s to Egypt
As of October 6, 1973, the Egyptian Air Force had 50 MiG-21MF, 130 MiG-21F-13/PF/PFM and three dozen two-seat MiG-21U/US/UM trainers. Domestic sources claim that most of the MiG-21PF/PFM front-line interceptors were equipped with GP-9 containers with a GSh-23 cannon installed in it. Also based in Egypt were MiG-21SM/MF fighters flown by Soviet pilots.
Egyptian MiG-21MF
In the late 1970s, Egypt began purchasing Western aircraft, including the American F-4E Phantom II fighters, as well as the French Mirage III and Mirage 5. However, the command of the Egyptian Air Force was not going to abandon the well-developed MiG-21s, which for a long period for a time they were operated in parallel with Phantoms and Mirages.
For a very long time, the basis of the fighter fleet of the PLA Air Force was the J-6 fighter (a copy of the MiG-19). Production of various variants of the J-6 until the mid-1980s was carried out in Shenyang. Aircraft of this type were exported and were in service in China until 2012. In total, more than 3000 Chinese copies of the MiG-19 were built. The production of a fighter that had a maximum flight speed of 1450 km/h, was equipped with outdated avionics and did not have missile weapons, was in many ways a necessary measure, since in China, for a number of reasons, they could not then build modern aircraft in significant quantities.
Shortly before the break in military-technical cooperation with the USSR, a package of documentation for the then newest MiG-21F-13 fighter, as well as several finished aircraft and assembly kits, was transferred to the PRC. However, serial production was stopped due to the Cultural Revolution that began in China, and it was only possible to establish a sustainable production of the fighter, designated J-7, in the second half of the 1970s, but by that time the aircraft was very outdated.
This fighter was equipped with a primitive CL-2 radar sight with a range of 3 km and did not have an automated data transmission system, and therefore targeting a target in poor visibility conditions or at night was possible only by commands from the ground transmitted by radio voice, and the armament consisted of 30 mm cannons, unguided rockets and short-range heat-seeking missiles, which could only be used against visually observable targets.
Further improvement of the J-7 in the PRC was largely due to the outright theft of Soviet MiG-21MF fighters supplied to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam through Chinese territory. In addition, as Western sources write, in the late 1970s, several MiG-21PFM came to China from Egypt.
MiG-21PFM
MiG-21PFM front-line interceptors were mass-produced from 1963 to 1968. This modification introduced a number of innovations that improved operational and combat characteristics. The use of a new braking parachute system and boundary layer blowing made it possible to reduce the flight length to 480 m and the landing speed to 240 km/h. To reduce the take-off run, provision was made for the installation of two launch boosters with a thrust of 2500 kgf each. The KM-1 ejection seat ensures the rescue of a pilot from zero altitude at speeds of 130 km/h during the take-off and run and 1200 km/h in horizontal flight. To control the rear hemisphere, the pilot had a mirror (periscope) at his disposal.
Compared to previous modifications, the MiG-21PFM's avionics have been improved. This version of the “twenty-first” was equipped with an upgraded RP-21M radar sight, which provided, regardless of visual visibility conditions, an automatic overview of space in sectors of 20° vertically and 60° horizontally at a range of up to 20 km with automatic indication of missile launch zones. The introduction of the RP-21M made it possible, in addition to the R-3S missile launcher with IR seeker, to use the R-3R missiles with semi-active radar guidance, as well as the K-5MS missile launcher with radio command guidance. Other improvements include: SRZO-2M state recognition equipment, an ARK-10 radio altimeter with a range measurement system, a Samotsvet infrared sight, a new ASP-PF sight coupled with a radar and an IR sight.
The MiG-21PFM was equipped with a R-11F2S-300 turbofan engine with a maximum thrust of 6175 kgf. The maximum take-off weight was 9120 kg. The maximum speed at an altitude is 2230 km/h, at the ground – 1300 km/h. Practical ceiling - 19 m. Practical range without PTB was 000 km, with PTB - 1300 km. Armament: 1670-mm GSh-23L cannon, four K-23 or R-ZS or RS-13US missiles, as well as NAR, ZAB and FAB weighing up to 2 kg.
Egyptian MiG-21PFM
On the basis of the MiG-21PFM, the J-1984C fighter was created in China in 7, which, compared to the Chinese copy of the MiG-21F-13, was a significant step forward. But the Chinese fighter turned out to be heavier, and therefore the flight characteristics of the J-7C were somewhat worse than those of the MiG-21PFM.
Chinese J-7C fighters
The J-7C fighter received a radar sight similar to the Soviet RP-21M, a more powerful engine and was armed with a 23-mm Type 23 cannon (copy of the GSh-23) and four missiles with a thermal homing head PL-2 (copy of the R-3C) or improved PL-5. The modified J-7D modification was equipped with the JL-7A radar with a detection range of the Tu-16 bomber of about 30 km. Production of the J-7D continued until 1996. However, the concept of a light front-line interceptor designed for high-speed missile attacks, adopted in the USSR in the 1960s, was no longer relevant twenty years later, and by Chinese standards, few J-7C/D fighters were made (about 100 units). Initially, these light interceptors were used to protect Beijing around the clock.
In the early 1990s, the characteristics of the JL-7A radar no longer met modern requirements, and the improvement of avionics of light fighters of the J-7 family (production continued until 2013) was carried out in cooperation with Western companies. Thus, the latest and most advanced modification in the line of Chinese “twenty-first” - the J-7G fighter - was equipped with the KLJ-6E airborne radar (a licensed copy of the Italian Pointer-2500 radar) with a detection range of air targets against the ground of up to 60 km.
However, Chinese-Egyptian cooperation in the field of combat aviation was not unilateral, and China not only purchased individual Soviet-made aircraft from Egypt for study, but also supplied its own aircraft.
Although in the early 1980s Egypt bought American Phantoms and French Mirages, due to the decommissioning of the MiG-21F-13, there was a need to replenish the fleet of light, inexpensive fighters, and in 1981-1982. China supplied two dozen F-7A, which some experts believe was payment for the transfer of Soviet MiG-21 and MiG-23. According to another version, Cairo settled with Beijing for the delivery of a submarine, Project 633, built in the USSR.
The F-7A fighter was an export version of the J-7I model used by the PLA Air Force, but the F-7A introduced a number of improvements and partially used British avionics. These fighters did not serve long in Egypt and were resold to Iraq a few years later.
In the second half of the 1980s, the Egyptian Air Force received 40 F-7W fighters and 12 FT-7B twins.
The F-7W fighter's armament includes R.550 Magic close-range guided missiles. The aircraft was equipped with increased capacity fuel tanks, a new ejection seat and improved equipment.
Currently, there are no combat squadrons left in Egypt equipped with Chinese-made fighters. About two dozen F-7Ws, which have not yet fully exhausted their service life, are in storage.
It is noteworthy that 15 Chinese fighters of this modification were purchased by the United States, which were subsequently used in the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron of the Air Force, based at Tonopah Airfield in Nevada.
Creation of combat aircraft in China based on MiG-23 fighters transferred from Egypt
In 1974, after the defeat in the Yom Kippur War, the Egyptian Air Force and Air Defense were strengthened with additional supplies from the USSR. Egypt became one of the first importers of MiG-23 family aircraft, purchasing in 1974 8 MiG-23MS fighters, 8 MiG-23BN attack aircraft and four MiG-23UB trainers, concentrating them in a squadron based at the Mersa Matruh airbase in the north. west of the country.
The MiG-23MS export modification fighter was deprived of one of the main trump cards inherent in the “twenty-third”: unlike the MiG-23M/MF with the Sapphire-23 radar, it could not carry R-23 medium-range missiles and was equipped with a simplified weapon system "Almaz-23" (similar to the S-21M weapon system of the MiG-21bis aircraft) without a heat direction finder and with a "Sapphire-21" radar.
The fighter with a maximum take-off weight of 18 kg had a practical flight range of 400 km. At high altitude, the MiG-1450MS could reach a speed of 23 km/h, and at the ground – 2500 km/h. Five hardpoints carried a combat load weighing up to 1350 kg, and the built-in armament was a 2000-mm GSh-23L cannon (23 rounds of ammunition).
The MiG-23MS had good acceleration characteristics, but was inferior in close maneuver combat to almost all modifications of the MiG-21. In terms of target detection and missile launch range, it did not exceed the much cheaper and easier to maintain MiG-21bis. In addition, all modifications of the MiG-23 placed increased demands on the pilot’s qualifications and were difficult to maintain.
After the cooling of relations with the USSR, the operation of the MiG-23 in Egypt became problematic, and these aircraft turned into a “suitcase without a handle”, which was a pity to throw away and impossible to carry. It was just the right time for the Egyptians to find foreign buyers for the “twenty-thirds”: several aircraft were bought by the Americans for testing in 1978, and six MiG-23MS/BN/UB were sent to the PRC.
A certain number of MiG-23s in Egypt were in flight condition until 1980, after which the remaining aircraft were put into storage. Now one Egyptian MiG-23MS is on display in the museum.
The Americans suffered a lot of grief with the MiG-23; preparation for each flight for the technical crew turned into a special operation. In addition, the plane was very strict to control. MiG-23MS and MiG-23BN were lost in plane crashes.
Now one MiG-23MS from this batch with red stars applied to it is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
In China, in addition to studying the capabilities of the “twenty-third” family of aircraft, an attempt was made to create its own strike machine. This was due to the fact that by the end of the 1970s, the PLA Air Force was faced with the issue of updating its fleet of specialized attack tactical aircraft.
The Q-5 attack aircraft, created on the basis of the J-6 fighter, was generally not bad, but had a small combat radius and a small combat load. The H-5 front-line bomber (a copy of the Il-28) was outdated by that time and was too vulnerable to ground-based air defense systems and interceptor fighters.
In China, they long avoided discussing the topic of purchasing Soviet aircraft from Egypt, but about 10 years ago, photographs of the MiG-23MS appeared next to the American F-5E fighter received from Vietnam for study.
In the mid-1970s, the design bureau of the Shenyang Aircraft Plant began creating an attack vehicle based on the J-8 interceptor (a functional analogue of the Soviet Su-9), but it soon became clear that the heavy delta-wing vehicle, originally created for high-altitude interception, was very poorly suited for operations at low altitudes, and this option was abandoned.
J-8 Interceptor Fighter
It was decided to build a multi-mode combat aircraft with a variable geometry wing, which could make high-speed throws and at the same time, with minimal wing sweep, have satisfactory maneuverability at low altitudes and good takeoff and landing characteristics. The design of this machine, designated Q-6, was carried out in the design bureau of the Nanchang aircraft plant. At the same time, many components and assemblies of the MiG-23 were copied.
The take-off weight of the aircraft should not exceed 14 kg, and the combat load should not be less than 500 kg. Combat radius – at least 4500 km. In terms of strike potential and the ability to conduct defensive air combat, the Q-900 was supposed to surpass the MiG-6BN.
Although the design of the Q-6 was largely inspired by the MiG-23, the Chinese designers, for some reason, decided to abandon the side air intakes and use an air intake in the lower part of the fuselage.
Estimated appearance of the Q-6 fighter-bomber
Initially, the Q-6 was planned to be equipped with a full-fledged multi-mode radar, created on the basis of the American AN/APQ-113 station, taken from an F-111 bomber that crashed in the jungles of Vietnam. But the Chinese radio-electronic industry was unable to reproduce this radar in acceptable weight and size characteristics. After the failure to copy the American radar, they decided to equip the aircraft with a terrain following radar station (based on AN/APQ-110), a laser target designation system, a Doppler radio altimeter, a radar warning station and active jamming equipment.
However, even having working samples of on-board equipment of American and Soviet origin and having understood the principles of operation, Chinese engineers were not allowed to reproduce them by the weak radio-electronic industry of the PRC. A significant part of the electronic components had to be made not on the basis of semiconductor elements, but on the basis of electronic tubes, which inevitably led to an increase in weight, dimensions and energy consumption.
At that time, China did not have a suitable aircraft engine, and it had to be created from scratch. The promising WS-6G turbofan engine, which developed a thrust of 77 kN and 138 kN in afterburner, had a service life of no more than 50 hours. The WP-15 turbofan engine, which was a copy of the Soviet R-29-300 engine, producing 85,1 kN without afterburner and 125,5 kN with afterburner, turned out to be very capricious and did not satisfy Chinese aircraft designers. The development of the WS-9 turbofan engine (a copy of the British Rolls-Royce Spey Mk. 202) took too much time.
Copying the mechanism for changing the wing sweep caused great difficulties. Although Chinese specialists had the original Soviet model at their disposal, the reverse engineering method did not work well this time. For a long time it was not possible to achieve reliable operation of the mechanism, and in the end it turned out to be 15% heavier than the one used on the MiG-23, which reduced the payload of the fighter-bomber, the capacity of the fuel tanks and, as a result, the combat radius.
As a result, the creation of the promising Q-6 combat aircraft took too long. The high degree of novelty, the technological backwardness of the Chinese aviation industry, the lack of necessary experience and research and development base did not allow the implementation of an ambitious program to create its own analogue of the MiG-23. And although there were certain positive changes and the developers proposed an improved Q-6B, after the appearance of the JH-7 Flying Leopard fixed-wing front-line bomber in the late 1980s, the Q-6 program was finally canceled.
One of the first JH-7 prototypes
The JH-7 bomber, created by the Design Bureau of the Xi'an Aircraft Manufacturing Enterprise, was smaller in size, carried a larger combat load and had a longer range. The key to the success of the JH-7 bomber was the use of relatively simple and understandable technical solutions already mastered by industry, as well as technological assistance from Western countries and copying of foreign components and assemblies.
Aviation experts consider the JH-7 to be a functional analogue of the Soviet Su-24. Although the Chinese aircraft is inferior to the Su-24 in a number of parameters, at the same time it is much simpler in design. The appearance of the JH-7 Flying Leopard strike aircraft, produced at the Xi'an aircraft plant, was greatly influenced by the American multi-role heavy fighter McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Moreover, the avionics of the supersonic JH-7 bomber included analogues of the electronic systems of American combat aircraft captured in Vietnam. The first series of Flying Leopards were equipped with British Rolls-Royce Spey Mk. 202 (originally intended to equip the carrier-based Phantoms of the British Navy), and then WS-9 engines.
The early production modification of the JH-7 bomber had a maximum take-off weight of 27 kg. At high altitude, the JH-500 could accelerate to 7 km/h. Practical range – 1795 km. Combat load – 2600 kg. By 6500, about 2019 JH-270, JH-7A and JH-7AII aircraft had been built.
However, it cannot be said that work on the Q-6 aircraft was a waste of time and money. During the creation of this multifunctional combat vehicle, Chinese specialists gained a lot of knowledge and gained the necessary experience. The creation of a fly-by-wire control system (EDCS), which was subsequently used on other Chinese aircraft, is considered successful.
In addition, some elements borrowed from the MiG-23 (air intake, folding ventral ridge, part of the equipment) were implemented on the J-8II interceptor, which in terms of flight data and appearance is close to the Soviet Su-15, but structurally these are different machines.
J-8II fighter-interceptor at the Le Bourget aerospace show in 1989
The J-8II interceptor traces its ancestry to the J-8 aircraft (first flight in 1965). The main disadvantage of the J-8 interceptor was the impossibility of installing a large radar on it, which is due to restrictions imposed by the size of the air intake cone.
The cone-shaped nose of the J-8II was initially equipped with an SL-4A (Type 208) radar with a detection range of up to 40 km. Flight performance was improved by installing more powerful engines and reducing aerodynamic drag. In addition, the radically modernized interceptor has become stronger.
The Americans provided significant assistance in improving the sighting and navigation system, communications and weapons of the J-8II in the late 1980s. The aircraft was equipped with an SL-8A radar with a detection range of 70 km, in-flight refueling equipment, and the armament included PL-11 medium-range missiles (a copy of the Italian Aspide Mk.1 missile launcher) with a firing range of up to 55 km. Later, the Type 1492 radar was introduced, capable of seeing an air target with an ESR of 1 m² flying towards them at a distance of up to 100 km. The main means of engaging air targets were the PL-12 and PL-8 missiles with a maximum launch range of 80 and 20 km.
The maximum take-off weight of the upgraded J-8IIDF interceptor is 18 kg, normal - 880 kg. Two WP-15BII engines with a total afterburner thrust of 200 kN allow acceleration at high altitudes of up to 13 km/h. The combat radius without air refueling, with external tanks, exceeds 137,4 km. Maximum operational overload – up to 2300 G.
The construction of new J-8IIDF interceptors continued until 2008, and the modernization of previously built aircraft continued until 2012. According to American data, the Chinese aviation industry produced approximately 350 J-8II aircraft of all modifications, and they have long played an important role in the PRC air defense system.
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