Posted on 01/11/2011 5:07:38 AM PST by asic_ant
Chinese President Hu Jintao confirmed the country had on Tuesday conducted its first test-flight of a stealth fighter jet, which could narrow the nation's military gap with the United States, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said after talks with Hu.
Gates said Hu told him that the maiden test-flight of the advanced J-20 fighter jet prototype was not timed to coincide with Gates's visit and had been planned earlier.
"I asked President Hu about it directly, and he said that the test had absolutely nothing to do with my visit and had been a pre-planned test. And that's where we left it," Gates told reporters.
Beforehand, the test-flight of the fighter jet, which could potentially evade detection by foes, in the southwest Chinese city of Chengdu had been widely reported on Chinese Internet blogs and online news sites.
They showed pictures of a fighter plane in flight, and some offered what were cast as running accounts of the J-20 stealth jet fighter taking off after midday for a short flight from an airport in Chengdu.
The website of the Global Times, a popular Chinese newspaper owned by the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's main paper, featured a brief report headlined: "J-20 first flight successful".
It published a link to what it said were pictures of the flight (here).
The announcement of a successful test flight for the advanced fighter came while Gates was visiting Beijing, seeking to improve often tense military ties.
In recent days, Chinese Web sites and some popular newspapers, which can come under a heavy grip of censorship, have carried many reports and pictures claiming to show the stealth fighter being tested on the ground.
But the government had been silent about the fighter until Hu's remarks to Gates. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I guess Mr. Gates must be “happy” that he has been proven wrong about his 2025 estimate
While there is certainly a lot of hype about the J-20 (still years away from deployment), it certainly makes Mr. Gates look stupid.
His remark is beginning to fall a lot in the category of Chamberlin’s “Peace in our lifetime”
F-22 line needs to be restarted and we need to get to 800-1000 operational F-22s
F-35s will help too, in large quantities.
Who confirmed this test flight?
No, Hu confirmed the test flight.
Who ?
Hu confirmed it
Hu’s one first.
Hu’s on first.
This is the upshot of gates trip:
President Hu:.......”Greetings Secretary Gates”
Gates:..............”I see you have a new stealth fighter?”
President Hu:.......”long pause.... Ya. Whats your next question?
Gates:..............”ok”
President Hu:.......”thanks for coming. Have a nice trip back”
No, Hu confirmed the test flight.
That's what I said, who confirmed it?
Correct
Good answer! ;)
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