Did The Chinese Steal The Blueprints For Russia's First Stealth Fighter?

Russia's Mysterious First Stealth Fighter Found On Bing Maps -- Killer Apps/Foreign Policy

This might be the easiest ever find of an MIA airplane. You're looking at a Bing Maps image of the Mikoyan (MiG) Project 1.44, Russia's first attempt at building a flyable stealth fighter and the jet that some said was sent to China to help kick-start Beijing's stealth development program. The jet is the larger of the two shown above sitting just outside of Moscow at Zhukovsky airfield (we have no idea what the smaller, darker plane alongside the 1.44 is).

Project 1.44 was meant to be the Soviet Union (and later Russia's) super-fast, super-maneuverable answer to the United States' premier fighter, the F-22 Raptor. However, the jet was underfunded in the days following the collapse of the Soviet Union. When the plane finally took its maiden flight in 2000, its designers found multiple flaws with the aircraft and the project was abandoned.

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My Comment: It looks like the Chinese were successful in hacking and/or stealing the plans for this Russian fighter.