Does the J-8 have a future?

I have always had a particular fondness of the J-8 Finback from China, and recently my interest has been peaked even more. From what I’ve seen, the J-8 has been both charitably described as being comparable to an F-18A and uncharitably described as a flying heap of leftover slag that should return to the scrapheap whence it came.

The question I pose for you is this: Where do you see this anachronistic jet in the future? Though the basic variants are certainly out of date even from their conception, the latest variants such as the J-8F seem to be a quite capable jet with PL-12 capability and fairly modern avionics and radar (from what I’ve seen), on top of it’s fairly redeemable speed performance. It certainly seems to be a good low-cost compliment to China’s J-11 fleet on the surface. Perhaps they could convert them into guided surface-to-air missile drones; after all, the manned prototype seemed to be a rousing success. :diablo:

But I would like to know what they have planned for this thing in the long run, now that they have the J-10 development in full-swing and what-not (Not to mention their vaunted J-XX program).

And how would you compare this jet to today’s fighters? I once heard that one redeeming quality it has is its good energy performance, from a source I cant quite recall.

Just curious to hear your opinions,

LoofahBoy