Shenyang J-8

J-8
J-8 at the China Aviation Museum
Role	Interceptor Type of aircraft
National origin	China
Manufacturer	Shenyang Aircraft Corporation
Design group	Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute
First flight	J-8: 5 July 1969 J-8B: 12 June 1984
Introduction	1980
Status	In service
Primary users	People's Liberation Army Air Force People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force
Number built	At least 408[1]

The Shenyang J-8 (Chinese: 歼-8; NATO reporting name: Finback) is an interceptor aircraft developed by the 601 Institute (Shenyang) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was conceived in the early 1960s as a low-risk program based on enlarging the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F, a version of which the PRC was producing as the Chengdu J-7. The original J-8 experienced protracted development due to disruption from the Cultural Revolution; the prototypes first flew in 1969^[2] but the design was not finalized until 1979 with the aircraft entering service in 1980.^[3]

The J-8II/J-8B (NATO reporting name: Finback-B) was a major development of the J-8 and was essentially a new aircraft. The J-8II replaced the distinctive nose air intake^[2] with a conventional radome and side air intakes to create room for a modern fire-control radar,^[4] and used more powerful engines.^[2][4] The aircraft started development in 1982,^[4] and was cleared for production and service in 1988.^[5] The J-8II was the basis for all later major additions to the J-8 family.^[6]