Posted on 01/24/2011 4:36:14 PM PST by lbryce
A US plane shot down during the Kosovo war could have gifted the Chinese the technology behind its military’s new stealth fighter. The F-117 stealth jet, called the Nighthawk, grounded by Serbian forces in 1999 during NATO’s bombing of the country.
Until now, the US military has been the sole owner of a stealth fighter, the Nighthawk being the first. Given the title because of their elusive nature, stealth jets are difficult for radar to detect. The Nighthawk’s creation was a highly classified project, and after it was shot down, other nations clamored to get a piece of the jet. The AP reports that the US military attributes the plane’s crash to “a combination of clever tactics and sheer luck [that] had allowed a Soviet-built SA-3 missile to bring down the jet.”
Apparently, some of the wreckage made it into the hands of Chinese agents. Adm. Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia military chief during the Kosovo war, told the AP, “We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies…and to reverse engineer them.”
And this has spawned the Chengdu J-20, unveiled earlier this month. It’s years from actually entering the military arena, but has caught the watchful eye of governments and their forces. According to the BBC, China’s military budget has quadrupled in the last 10 years, standing in 2010 at $78 billion. Compare that to the US’ $700 billion, and any worries about a Chinese version of Red Dawn making its way stateside should be mildly subdued. The Air Force has yet to be convinced the J-20 is based off the F-117, but there’s no question the US has been wary of China’s ascent to global superpower, especially when it comes to technology and economics.
(Excerpt) Read more at digitaltrends.com ...
What about especially when it's our technology? Can't the Chinese develop their own home-grown technology instead of having to rely on us for their new found, emergent super-power status they love so much to flaunt?? Oh, yeah. The unstoppable carrier-killer missile, that will usher in China's military /naval supremacy, our demise, overnight. Yeah, I forgot about that one.
Puh-leeeez. Some super-power.
I find it oddly coincidental that our highest technological advances always manage to end up in the hands of the Chinese while they keep lending us money that they know we have no chance of paying back. I’m pretty sure that’s called a “trade”.
Just a cover story about retrieving anything from the Kosovo crash site.
Clinton’s wag the dog war in Serbia. The gift that just keeps on giving.
Anything to do with a crashed aircraft would be unnecessary. The Chinese are very intelligent, and there are plenty of traitors in the military-industrial complex who would sell their descendants’ safety for a Jaguar now. Between the two, poof, they get whatever technology they need.
Agreed. This is a Red Herring cover story. The technology for these types of planes is on the drawing board 10 years to actual production. The F117 that crashed in Kosovo was already old hat. I have no doubt the new technology in the J20 was given/sold to the PRC by corrupt bastards in our own government.
I wonder if there is any correlation to that errant bomb drop in Kosovo that fell close enough to the Chinese embassy to kill a few people? Possibly an effort to destroy the stolen pieces of that crashed F117 sitting in the ChiCom embassy’s storage shed awaiting transport out of the country?
We supported the wrong side in the Kosovo War. Never trust the Muslims and I would not trust the Croats either.
Ya know, I don’t think you can really compare a conventional platform, subsonic strike aircraft to a canard winged supersonic strike fighter... The two don’t look remotely related.
Maybe the Chinese bought some RAM samples and got some measurements off the wreckage, but the new Chinese stealth fighter (how stealthy is it? What is its RCS compared to, say, an F-22?) is pretty much a home design.
Don’t make same mistake the US Navy did when evaluating the A6M Zero...
We cruise missiled their embassy after the F117 parts just like the Japs bombed the Panay to stop us from getting out with parts from one of their crashed planes.
History repeating itself.
The Chinese (and Soviets) reverse engineered an AIM-9B missile that lodged in the body of a MiG-17 and failed to detonate. The AA-2 was a carbon copy of the AIM-9.
“Nonsense, they bought the info fair and square. Clinton and co. were proud to give up the details in exchange for campaign bucks.”
DING! DING! DING!
On the nose!
Thank you Slick Willie
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