One of the most famous supersonic fighters, the MiG-21, was produced not only at home - in the USSR, but also in three other countries. Only Czechoslovakia and India assembled the legendary aircraft on an official basis with the appropriate documentation, and China, due to a number of circumstances, took the path of creating counterfeit clones. True, this did not prevent the Asians from not only independently modernizing the Soviet MiG-21, but also "producing" more modifications than in the USSR itself.
And the story of the longest-playing flying counterfeit began in the early sixties of the last century, when tensions began in relations between the USSR and China. Then Khrushchev tried to mend the shaken ties with the help of a proposal to start production of the newest Soviet fighter.
This implied the transfer of the license, the entire package of technical documentation and the involvement of Soviet specialists.
However, the situation has not changed: in March 1962, the Chinese, under the leadership of PLA Air Force General Liu Yalou, brought from the USSR a contract for the reorganization. production and construction under license of the first series of MiG-21. Just a year later, all technical specialists from the Soviet Union. Production licenses were also revoked, so the Chinese decided to independently bring the fighter to mind.
The first Chinese modification of the MiG-21 was the J-7 fighter, which first flew in early 1966. And although it was originally planned as a transitional model to the Chinese car itself, in the end it was assembled for more than a decade. In total, according to Novate.ru, J-7 collected about two and a half thousand.
However, they did not stop there. First of all, a number of modernizations were made, which, however, were in many respects similar to the results of similar events in the USSR. Although, China still bypassed the Soviet Union in the number of modifications - 23 versus 18. It is safe to say that the Asians managed to extract the maximum resources from the legendary domestic fighter.
It is interesting to analyze the design features of the J-7 modifications of different years, because they can be used to track, oddly enough, the course of foreign policy relations China: for example, in some versions of the fighter, you can easily notice design and construction elements that are similar to Western samples of a similar technology. Of course, such a process took place during the period of strengthening ties between the PRC and the United States, as well as Great Britain.
Moreover, the Chinese managed to create a "clone in a square": this is how the joint project of the PRC and Pakistan appeared, which was a JF-17 Thunder fighter. The production of this machine began in 2007. But the J-7 stopped collecting quite recently - only in 2017. We are talking about the latest serial modification of the J-7G, the production period of which was 15 years. Thus, the era of work on clones of the Soviet MiG-21 was more than half a century.
In addition to the topic: Twice as fast as sound: why the Soviet MiG-21 fighter was nicknamed the "Flying Balalaika"
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/030421/58440/
IT IS INTERESTING:
1. Why Soviet tankers massively opposed the appearance of a muzzle brake on the guns
2. Pistol Lerker and Kuppini: why a successful weapon for self-defense was banned
3. Why do tanks have caterpillar fingers with a hat inward, and tractors - outward? (video)