A comparison between the EL/M-2052 AESA radar brochure issued by Israel's Elta Systems, left, and the brochure issued by Beijing's NAV Technology Company. (Internet photo)
Posted on 08/18/2015 4:01:12 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
A listed Chinese company is being accused of trying to sell a knockoff version of an advanced Israeli airborne fire-control radar, according to a report from Defense News, a US-based media outlet.
Beijing's NAV Technology Company has reportedly claimed in a product catalogue that its active electronic scanned array (AESA) radar incorporates "decades of field-proven experience" from Elta Systems, a subsidiary of the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). In the mid-2000s, IAI was embroiled in controversy after it canceled a radar deal with China due to strong opposition from the US government.
The AESA radar being promoted by the Chinese company is believed to be Elta's EL/M-2052, given that the product descriptions in NAV's catalogue — such as advanced multimode capabilities for precision, long-range attack of multiple air, sea and moving ground targets — are "nearly identical" to Elta's marketing data, the report said.
Israel's Ministry of Defence on Monday denied any knowledge of NAV or the radar it was selling, though a spokesperson declined to answer whether IAI has ever been licensed to market Elta radars to China. However, an IAI spokesperson has denied any association between Elta and NAV "or any other Chinese firm," the report said.
"We don't have a clue as to why they wrote this in their brochure, but it is completely not true," the spokesperson said in a written reply.
Defense News suggests that NAV may be guilty of manufacturing imitations of foreign arms technology, noting that the company's catalog says it is willing to "reverse engineer" a US-made inertial navigation system, and that it is also selling a glide bomb that appears identical in appearance and specifications to the GBU-39 made by Boeing.
According to the website of China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times, NAV is a company registered in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park. Its areas of expertise are "communications, navigation and modern signal processing."
Citing foreign media reports, Global Times claims that Israeli defense and technology companies have long lobbied Jerusalem to loosen restrictions on exporting to China and to expand the number and scale of joint ventures. However, despite having the backing of the country's foreign and economic affairs ministries, their requests have been repeatedly turned down by the Israeli Ministry of Defence.
A comparison between the EL/M-2052 AESA radar brochure issued by Israel's Elta Systems, left, and the brochure issued by Beijing's NAV Technology Company. (Internet photo)
They will steal anything, from anybody. It’s their mindset for thousands of years. The idea of a patent is foreign to them, as well as intellectual property............
They’ve been knocking of SAM radars for years - from the Russians.
It's also an integral part of communism. The only reason that the Chinese government gives lip service to IP rights is to allow its entry into world markets.
Mark
I used to work for a guy back in ‘92 that was developing a wireless speaker system for stereos, at that time a really unheard of development. He was in the process of contracting for manufacturer of his design by a Chinese (Taiwan) company. They essentially took all his drawings and stole his design and he never heard from them again............................
SERVES ISRAEL RIGHT.
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