| title (item) | field_cer_web | field_cer_navbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senjang J-6 |
After launching domestic production of the MiG-17F in 1957, Beijing requested the technology transfer for a supersonic fighter from Moscow. In October of the same year, the USSR reacted by granting permission for the sale of the MiG-19S and all the related technical documentation to the PRC. The work on setting up licence production was launched in December 1958, but interrupted due to the first break with the Soviets, prompting the Chinese Communists to launch an indigenous effort to copy the type. Following successful testing, series production of the J-6 – actually an improved variant – was launched in late 1963, and the type eventually entered service with the PLAAF and the PLANAF in huge numbers. Early J-6s still looked very much like the Soviet originals, i.e. were painted in two layers of clear lacquer mixed with aluminium powder: the primary difference was in their four- (later five-) digit serials, and national markings. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)