@M.O.B. Nice Pictures man, this is really cool. it's one of the few aircraft in our Airforce that i'm proud to see.

I think both sides of this argument are true to an extent and also wrong in some considerations. The Chengdu F-7 has been used in joint exercises between US and Indian airforces recently and actually outperformed the F-16 in mock dog-fights. It has a considerably better power to weight ratio than the F-16 and thus a better climb rate and angle of attack capability. But before we jubilate for the F-7, one must consider that the last time any close quarters dog-fighting happened was in the 70s during the Isreali vs Arab nations conflicts, and the Indo-Pakistan war, and also a few cases during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Dog fighting is no longer done at close quarters, with the development of medium-long range missiles, the era of dog fights has effectively come to an end. Almost every ace pilot from the late 70s till this day scored their combat kills from distances of over a kilometre away from their target, some as far as 7km. Manoeuvrability is not nearly as important as advanced detection and tracking avionics. The F-7 has been modified to integrate with modern armaments of Soviet and also Western manufacture like the Soviet Vympel R-33 which can be fired at targets over 100km away, but is still equipped with a rather limited Radar which does not have the range of the 4.5 to 5th generation fighters. The Italian made Grifo MG radar of the F-7 can detect targets at 125km away but can only establish a lock at 35km - 40km, while the SU-30 and MIG-29 are equipped with Tikhomirov NIIP Irbis E radar with 350km - 400km detection and 90km lock on. Dog fights of this age involve BVR (Beyond Visual Range) attcks with medium to long range missiles. The F-7 would be slaughtered in a proper encounter with more modern fighters. NUmbers dont always account for much now adays, history has proven this: During the Arab-Isreali conflicts, the Isreali air forces were vastly out numbered by the Arab coalition but still established air supremacy through superior pilot skill and better aircraft, the Iraqi airforce was the 2nd largest in the world when the Gulf War started but were no match for the US and allied airforces of much smaller number.
As an aircraft enthusiast and being a Nigerian, it pains me that this is the best our Military brass can come up with to defend our Nation. As for those arguing about the F-7 meeting our present needs, you cannot predict the political and diplomatic atmosphere of the future, today's ally can very well become tomorrow's enemy. Anything can cause a conflict between us and any nation in the world even the U.S.