BANGKOK (AP) — Soldiers in pristine and pressed uniforms marched in lockstep, their boots clacking a steady cadence on the pavement and their eyes following leader Xi Jinping as he drove by in review. Helicopters flew overhead, forming the numbers 8 and 0 in honor of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

There was no shortage of pageantry at Wednesday's military parade in Beijing , but beyond the spectacle, it also provided the first good look at China's latest military hardware. New missiles, drones and other high-tech equipment have been added to its arsenal as part of a massive modernization program with the goal, according to the official parade announcers, of producing a force “with both nuclear and conventional capabilities able to deter wars in all battle spaces.”

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