Gu Songfen, pioneering designer of Chinese supersonic fighter jets, dies at 96

Gu Songfen, the chief designer of China’s J-8 fighter jet family, died at 96. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a researcher at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. The J-8 was the first home-grown supersonic fighter jet designed to counter US high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.