Historical Photo of the Day: First Flight of the J‑8II — June 12, 1984

A milestone moment for China’s interceptor program: the J‑8II taking to the air for the first time on June 12, 1984. The redesigned nose, side‑intakes, and stretched fuselage marked a clean break from the original J‑8  Bonus Photo:J‑8II in the United States, circa 1986, during the short‑lived Peace Pearl program, that brief window when Washington and Beijing were friendly enough for the

June 13, 2026
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