Xi'an JH-7

what is it?

The Xi'an JH-7 (simplified Chinese: 歼轰-7; traditional Chinese: 殲轟-7; pinyin: jiān hōng qī – fighter-bomber; NATO reporting name Flounder), also known as the FBC-1 (Fighter/Bomber China-1) Flying Leopard, is a Chinese tandem two-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber/strike aircraft in service with the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF), and the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The aircraft is produced by the Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation (XAC); the design was developed with the 603 Institute (later the Xi'an Aviation Design and Research Institute). The JH-7 entered service with the PLANAF in 1994.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 12.8 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,808 km/htop speed
• size 28.5 tmax take-off weight
• built 270made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 38 years ago, in 1988.
• 🏎️Top speed is 13.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 1.5 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 12.8 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 5 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.8× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1988-12-14

introduced

1994

status

still flying

number built

270

role

fighter-bomber

origin

🇨🇳 People's Republic of China

makers

Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation

engines

2× Xian WS-9 Qinling / Rolls-Royce Spey

crew

2

length

22.3 m

wingspan

12.8 m

height

6.2 m

max take-off weight

28.5 t

top speed

1,808 km/h

range

—

ceiling

16,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.