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by Holger Muller.
Softcover (8.2×11.7 inches). 84 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: Volume 1: The F-7/FT-7 Family – Origins, Evolution and Variants
This Chinese fighter traces origins from the USSR’s MiG-21. On again, off again relations between the two Communist powers sped up and slowed down development of the initial copies and later variants. Note that the USSR ceased production of the MiG-21 by 1986 while the Chinese continued to produce F-7s until 2016.
The system reverse engineering and cloning took longer than expected, but produced a fighter of comparable performance. Exports to third-world countries soon followed.
Covered are the original and numerous variants, as well as variants of engines, equipment, avionics, ejection seats, and armament (guns, missiles, rockets, and bombs). All of this will be sweet info to aerial simulation designers. It’s not called Tech at War for nuthin’.
The book contains 122 color photos, one color map, and 21 color camouflage illustrations of aircraft used by various countries.
Not being particularly into modern warfare, I can only appreciate, not enjoy, the barrage of technical details. I skipped through the systems and subsystems. If you want to delve into the tech specs of this family of fighters, here’s a great start.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
