Chinese stealth fighter jet may use US technology

[Lankan Ranger]

Chinese stealth fighter jet may use US technology

A Chinese stealth fighter jet that could pose a significant threat to American air superiority may borrow from US technology, it has been claimed.

Balkan military officials and other experts said China may have gleaned knowledge from a US F-117 Nighthawk that was shot down over Serbia in 1999.

"At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers," said Admiral Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief of staff during the Kosovo war. "We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies ... and to reverse-engineer them."

The Nighthawk was downed by a Serbian anti-aircraft missile during a bombing raid on 27 March 1999. It was the first time one of the fighters had been hit, and the Pentagon blamed clever tactics and sheer luck. The pilot ejected and was rescued.

A senior Serbian military official confirmed that pieces of the wreckage were removed by souvenir collectors, and that some ended up "in the hands of foreign military attaches". Efforts to get comment from China's defence ministry and the Pentagon were unsuccessful.

Parts of the F-117 wreckage, including its left wing, cockpit canopy, ejection seat, pilot's helmet and radio, are exhibited at Belgrade's aviation museum. Zoran Milicevic, deputy director of the museum, said: "I don't know what happened to the rest of the plane. A lot of delegations visited us in the past, including the Chinese, Russians and Americans ... but no one showed any interest in taking any part of the jet."

Zoran Kusovac, a Rome-based military consultant, said the regime of the former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic routinely shared captured western equipment with its Chinese and Russian allies. "The destroyed F-117 topped that wish-list for both the Russians and Chinese," Kusovac said.

China's multi-role stealth fighter – known as the Chengdu J-20 – made its inaugural flight on 11 January, revealing dramatic progress in the country's efforts to develop cutting-edge military technologies. It is at least eight or nine years from entering service.

Chinese stealth fighter jet may use US technology | World news | The Guardian

 

[Martian2]

The article did not provide a single piece of proof. It was all speculation and nasty rumor-mongering. Basically, the article claimed that J-20's stellar advance in technology must have been stolen and it desperately pointed to a pile of burning F-117 debris.

Actually, the most likely explanation is that Chinese scientists and engineers worked hard in research and development and built an evolutionary J-20 stealth fighter aircraft to the J-10 Vigorous Dragon, which had its first flight in 1998. The U.S. experienced a similar military upgrade when American scientists and engineers progressed from the F-16 Falcon to the F-22 Raptor.

 

[cross1993]

J20 stealth ability, it is not through the paint.
Unlike the F22 and F117.

 

[GUNS-N- ROSES]

americans cant really accept china matching up to them. isnt it?

 

[Dragon Emperor]

Chinese stealth fighter is 100% made in China. J-20 uses technology far advanced than the crappy F-117.

 

[pandamonkey]

this is not the complete article. Kanna posted just part of it. and you guys need to stop bashing america. this is the complete article.


BRUSSELS – Chinese officials recently unveiled a new, high-tech stealth fighter that could pose a significant threat to American air superiority — and some of its technology, it turns out, may well have come from the U.S. itself.

Balkan military officials and other experts have told The Associated Press that in all probability the Chinese gleaned some of their technological know-how from an American F-117 Nighthawk that was shot down over Serbia in 1999.

Nighthawks were the world's first stealth fighters, planes that were very hard for radar to detect. But on March 27, 1999, during NATO's aerial bombing of Serbia in the Kosovo war, a Serbian anti-aircraft missile shot one of the Nighthawks down. The pilot ejected and was rescued.

It was the first time one of the much-touted "invisible" fighters had ever been hit. The Pentagon believed a combination of clever tactics and sheer luck had allowed a Soviet-built SA-3 missile to bring down the jet.

The wreckage was strewn over a wide area of flat farmlands, and civilians collected the parts — some the size of small cars — as souvenirs.

"At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers," says Adm. Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief of staff during the Kosovo war.

"We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies ... and to reverse-engineer them," Domazet-Loso said in a telephone interview.

A senior Serbian military official confirmed that pieces of the wreckage were removed by souvenir collectors, and that some ended up "in the hands of foreign military attaches."

Efforts to get comment from China's defense ministry and the Pentagon were unsuccessful.

China's multi-role stealth fighter — known as the Chengdu J-20 — made its inaugural flight Jan. 11, revealing dramatic progress in the country's efforts to develop cutting-edge military technologies.

Although the twin-engine J-20 is at least eight or nine years from entering air force inventory, it could become a rival to America's top-of-the-line F-22 Raptor, the successor to the Nighthawk and the only stealth fighter currently in service.

China rolled out the J-20 just days before a visit to Beijing by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, leading some analysts to speculate that the timing was intended to demonstrate the growing might of China's armed forces.

Despite Chinese President Hu Jintao's high-profile visit to the United States this week, many in Washington see China as an economic threat to the U.S. and worry as well about Beijing's military might.

Parts of the downed F-117 wreckage — such as the left wing with US Air Force insignia, the cockpit canopy, ejection seat, pilot's helmet and radio — are exhibited at Belgrade's aviation museum.

"I don't know what happened to the rest of the plane," said Zoran Milicevic, deputy director of the museum. "A lot of delegations visited us in the past, including the Chinese, Russians and Americans ... but no one showed any interest in taking any part of the jet."

Zoran Kusovac, a Rome-based military consultant, said the regime of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic routinely shared captured Western equipment with its Chinese and Russian allies.

"The destroyed F-117 topped that wish-list for both the Russians and Chinese," Kusovac said.

Russia's Sukhoi T-50 prototype stealth fighter made its maiden flight last year and is due to enter service in about four years. It is likely that the Russians also gleaned knowledge of stealth technology from the downed Nighthawk.

The F-117, developed in great secrecy in the 1970s, began service in 1983.

While not completely invisible to radar, its shape and radar-absorbent coating made detection extremely difficult. The radar cross-section was further reduced because the wings' leading and trailing edges were composed of nonmetallic honeycomb structures that do not reflect radar rays.

Kusovac said insight into this critical technology, and particularly the plane's secret radiation-absorbent exterior coating, would have significantly enhanced China's stealth know-how.

Alexander Huang of Taipei's Tamkang University said the J-20 represented a major step forward for China. He described Domazet-Loso's claim as "a logical assessment."

"There is no other stronger source for the origin of the J-20's stealthy technology," said Huang, an expert on China's air force. "The argument the Croatian chief-of-staff makes is legitimate and cannot be ruled out."

The Chinese are well-known perpetrators of industrial espionage in Western Europe and the United States, where the administration has also been increasingly aggressive in prosecuting cases of Chinese espionage.

Western diplomats have said China maintained an intelligence post in its Belgrade embassy during the Kosovo war. The building was mistakenly struck by U.S. bombers that May, killing three people inside.

"What that means is that the Serbs and Chinese would have been sharing their intelligence," said Alexander Neill, head of the Asia security program at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank in London. "It's very likely that they shared the technology they recovered from the F-117, and it's very plausible that elements of the F-117 got to China."

___

 

[siegecrossbow]

Consider what Gambit said a while ago the RAM on the F-117 is so heavy that it prevents the plane from going supersonic. I guess this proves that the J-20 has very little, if anything, to do with the F-117.

 

[pandamonkey]

note that in this article they don't use some random experts for statements. the Balken military officals are the first. then a Chinese expert on the chinese airforce also agrees with this article.

Alexander Huang of Taipei's Tamkang University said the J-20 represented a major step forward for China. He described Domazet-Loso's claim as "a logical assessment."

"There is no other stronger source for the origin of the J-20's stealthy technology," said Huang, an expert on China's air force. "The argument the Croatian chief-of-staff makes is legitimate and cannot be ruled out."

And for Martine2 who said their is no evidence provided by this article, Martine please read the article first before bashing the U.S.

"At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers," says Adm. Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief of staff during the Kosovo war.

"We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies ... and to reverse-engineer them," Domazet-Loso said in a telephone interview

this commet is made by crotian's military chief of staff, i think he knows a little more about this subject then you and i think his evidence is more then enough.

 

[Dragon Emperor]

note that in this article they don't use some random experts for statements. the Balken military officals are the first. then a Chinese expert on the chinese airforce also agrees with this article.

Alexander Huang of Taipei's Tamkang University said the J-20 represented a major step forward for China. He described Domazet-Loso's claim as "a logical assessment."

"There is no other stronger source for the origin of the J-20's stealthy technology," said Huang, an expert on China's air force. "The argument the Croatian chief-of-staff makes is legitimate and cannot be ruled out."

And for Martine2 who said their is no evidence provided by this article, Martine please read the article first before bashing the U.S.

"At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers," says Adm. Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief of staff during the Kosovo war.

"We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies ... and to reverse-engineer them," Domazet-Loso said in a telephone interview

this commet is made by crotian's military chief of staff, i think he knows a little more about this subject then you and i think his evidence is more then enough.

No, J-20 is 100% made in China. The RAM on the F-117 is different than the coating on J-20. The J-20 uses tech that far surpasses the crappy F-117. Those impudent Westerners are so arrogant thinking that their tech can account for all Chinese advancements.

 

[IND151]

Chinese stealth fighter jet may use US technology..........? what childish dream is this?.

 

[pandamonkey]

are you a moron are something. just because the chinese looked at the night hawk doesn't mean it is a complete copy of the plane. of course they looked at it studied it then moved on and make a better jet. And why is everyone so quick to say that the chinese never looked at and studied the shot down plane in the balkens? look at the U.S. B-2 bomber. is the derived from a German nazi plane made in ww2. U.S. brought the german ones over to the us studied it and from that plane came the B-2.

 

[Luftwaffe]

I sold landing gears...found them on ebay for $9.99 each not my fault if some one posted it on ebay

 

[pandamonkey]

by the way everyone here is ignoring a very important part of the article. this article is not only clamining that J-20 is a result of the f-117 shoot down but also "Russia's Sukhoi T-50 prototype stealth fighter made its maiden flight last year and is due to enter service in about four years. It is likely that the Russians also gleaned knowledge of stealth technology from the downed Nighthawk. "

 

[sid1508]

China may copy the technology instead of borrowing! They are good at copying things and bad at innovation.

 

[Honor]

China may copy the technology instead of borrowing! They are good at copying things and bad at innovation.

Tell me what is borrowing and what is copying?