J-2 (Jian-2 Fighter aircraft 2)
By 1950 China was starting to build a modern aircraft industry. To construct jet-powered fighters, China employed Soviet technology under the guidance of Soviet experts. By October 1951, with the Korean War underway for the past year, the Soviet Union sent nearly a thousand MiG-15 engineers and specialists to China to begin construction of fighters.
The Chinese Shenyang aircraft factory built two-seat trainer versions of the MiG-15UTI, known as JJ-2s, but never constructed any single-seat fighter versions of the aircraft. Instead, the facilities repaired and maintained Soviet-built airplanes.
The first Chinese-built jet fighter to enter service were license-built copies of the MiG-15’s successor, the MiG-17 Fresco. Designated the J-5, the Chinese version of the MiG-17 first flew on August 2, 1956. Trainer aircraft, designated JJ-5s, appeared nearly ten years later. In all, 767 J-5 fighters and 1,061 JJ-5 trainers were built in China.
In China versions of the MiG-15 include the J-2 and JJ-2 (MiG-15UTI). Some sources use the designation J-4, which is often associated with the Chinese MiG-15 or the Chinese MiG-17F. However, several authors say that this is actually a western invention, and that the MiG was never called the J-4 in China.
