According to a recent CCTV report, the Chinese Air Force plans to withdraw all the more than 200 J-7 fighters in active service from the combat sequence around 2023 and replace them with more advanced J-10 and J-16 fighters. As a result, India and Pakistan are the only two countries left in the world to continue to equip the MiG-21 family of fighters in batches. However, the air forces of India and Pakistan have made significant improvements to the MiG-21. In the early 90s of the last century, China developed the J-7MP J-7PG fighter for the Pakistan Air Force, which was improved on the basis of the J-7E G fighter and adopted a double delta wing design, which fundamentally solved the problem of poor maneuverability of the MiG-21 and made it a real fighter. The J-7PG fighter is also equipped with an Italian-made GIF7 fire control radar, which has excellent air search capabilities, combined with advanced Thunderbolt-5E air-to-air missiles and helmet-mounted sights, which enables it to kill Indian MiG-21Bison "Bison" fighters in close air combat. And India's MiG-21Bison "Bison", although equipped with the Russian Faztron's "Lance" airborne radar and R-77 medium-range air-to-air missiles, in fact, has almost zero long-range air combat capability. Due to the installation of a large amount of equipment during the modification process, the MiG-21Bison "Bison" is overweight, resulting in a reduction in range, maneuverability and maneuverability, and at the same time its reliability is also low. Therefore, in contrast, the Chinese J-7PG fighter has stronger capabilities in close air combat.
In the 60s of the last century, China and India introduced the MiG-21 fighter, and on this basis, they imitated it and developed the J-7 fighter. Subsequently, China's aviation industry continued to improve it, derived a number of improved models, including J-7i, J-7, J-7, J-7A, J-7B, J-7E, J-7M, J-7MG, J-7PG, J-7P, J-7MP, J-7FS, J-7MF and other series, and each series has different sub-models. In addition, based on the J-7, China has also developed a new FC-1 Thunder Dragon fighter and a Gaojiao-9 trainer aircraft, which have more excellent performance. It can be said that China's J-7 fighter is the best improved MiG-21 fighter in the world, and even Russia, which inherited the mantle of the former Soviet Union, is ashamed of itself. Over the past three decades, the number and models of Soviet ** manufactured and improved in China have far exceeded the level of Russia itself. In terms of model and quantity, China is the most authentic successor of the Soviet style.
China's J-7 fighter has excellent melee capabilities, thanks to its superior maneuverability and advanced avionics, which gives it an advantage in aerial combat. In contrast, India's MiG-21bison "Bison" has been improved, but it still has a number of problems. The aircraft's medium-range air combat capability is close to zero, and a large amount of equipment has been added during the modification process, resulting in overweight of the whole aircraft, reduced range, and reduced maneuverability and maneuverability. In addition, the reliability of the MiG-21Bison Bison is also low, the Indian Air Force is armed with 946 MiG-21s of various modifications, a third of which crashed, and the modified Bison also crashed many aircraft. Therefore, there are only about 100 MiG-21 fighters left in service in India, and at this crash rate, all of them may be lost in 10 or 8 years. It can be said that China's J-7 fighter has stronger capabilities in close-range air combat, and has a clear advantage over India's MiG-21bison "Bison".