Is America's Advantage In Stealth Technology Here To Stay?

Real U.S. Stealth-Tech Advantage: Its Assembly Lines -- David Axe, The Danger Room

For more than 20 years, the U.S. Air Force had a world monopoly on radar-evading technology — and with it, a huge advantage over any rival. Several generations of stealth fighters and bombers, from the earliest F-117s to the 1990s-vintage B-2s and today’s F-22s, have helped win wars, take down regimes and exert U.S. influence across the globe.

Then something happened. In an eventful two years, the United States has apparently lost its stealth monopoly to Russia, China and several other countries that have already flown their own stealth-fighter prototypes — or might soon. U.S. stealth planes are still better and far more numerous than any other country’s, and will be for a long time. But they’re no longer alone.

The implications could be enormous, for the United States and the world.

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My Comment: David Axe's assessment is spot on. It is one thing for the Chinese or russians (or anyone else) to have a copy of the plans and what is needed to build a stealth fighter like the F-35. It is however a totally different thing when it comes to sitting down and actually manufacturing the parts, doing the assembly, and testing the final product.