yeah, particularly when "some people" saw you with a purple pump in hand...
Obviously you don't deserve the said compliment, as you above 2 comments contradict each other.
Yes or No, make up your mind for once!
Your above example on F-111 is not touching the key either.
Copying:
It's cloning. It means completely identical in end result.
Copying is always used under the premise that
all details (e.g. tech, knowhow, order, materials, process, etc) of the target system are already
known to the copier. It usually applies to
simple systems / objects, such as photocopy a book; or copy a table, copy a dress, or clone a bio cell, etc.
Reverse Engineering:
It almost always applies to
complex systems, with the premise that
parts of or
all details (e.g. tech, knowhow, order, materials, process, etc) of the target system are
unknown to the initiator. Such as reverse engineering an advanced engine, or an airplane or a space rocket, etc.
Both
copying and
reverse engineering have the similar goals:
the former
is set to replicate the target system to achieve
identical end result;
while the latter
tried to achieve the similar end result via trials & errors, which lead to almost always
non-identical end result , namely either inferior or superior.
Although with similar goals to start with,
Copying and
Reverse Engineering
have totally different premises;
require totally different procedures ; and
consume drastically different amount of resources, both material and human.
What China was doing with some simple toys , branded clothe designs, or some DVDs a decade earlier would be called "copying" or "cloning".
But what China is doing with J-15 or WS-10A etc, are not copying, but Reverse Engineering.
Get it?