Combat readiness of Chinese defence equipment remains highly doubtful
The F-7BGI fighter jet of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) that crashed earlier this week into the Milestone School and College campus killing dozens, mostly children, is a single-engine, lightweight fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China. It is considered a modernized version of Chengdu F-7, also known as J-7 whose lineage can be traced back to the Soviet Mig-21. The People's Liberation Army Airforce (PLAAF) and other countries have continued to upgrade F-7 to F-7BGI for training and limited combat roles. China officially terminated production of the F-7 series in 2013 and Bangladesh bought the final match of these aircraft that same year. PLAAF decommissioned the entire J-7 fleet by the end of 2023.
