Wikimedia Commons. USAF and Airwolfhound
Popular Mechanics: Counterfeit Air Power: Meet China's Copycat Air Force
China went from a regional to world power in record time, but it needed some "help" along the way.
As China’s world influence expands, so is its military. An increasingly capable Navy, large investments in weapons tech, and its first overseas military base speak to President Xi Jinping’s goal to make China a global superpower.
But to match that ambition, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has turned to other countries for “inspiration” when it comes to outfitting its armed forces. Although buying or stealing foreign military technology could be seen as a strategic weakness, China skips expensive and time-consuming R&D.
And nowhere is fast-and-loose weapons adoption (and its inherent shortcomings) more apparent than in China’s Air Force. Like the U.S, China deploys aircraft with a broad range of capabilities, but unlike the U.S. most of China’s planes are based on plans purchased or stolen from its adversaries. Here are seven of them.
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WNU Editor: I am sure that with time China will be experts on their own in avionics and jet engines.
Force not froce
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ReplyDeleteI'm not that sure. Being a leader needs creativity, by copying they are always second. Spending time in R&D is not a lost time because you learn a lot from the failures which are inherent to R&D. We shall see.
The theft that occurred was and is real and in the hundreds of billions for military tech / inventions alone over the decades. Not even mentioning copyright and industrial theft in other areas over that time span. Combined certainly trillions. On top the trade deficit. Trump is right that the US built America. However, that was then and this is now. China is a built country. Go to shanghai or many other cities in China and you'll think the US is the 3rd world country. My point being...yes, China stole and copied a lot. But they now already have top notch research and own inventions. They still steal, don't get me wrong, but they also have their own, very impressive capabilities. We should be honest about that and see them for the threat they are. The reason why China was propelled to the world stage is not just because America made them rich (which as I admit is true), but the Chinese system - while abhorrent to people in the west - is very efficient. And they are incredibly ruthless. On top, when u let them steal for 3-4 decades and they become rich very quickly (comparatively to the speed of other nations) not only will they not respect you (a very common thing in China, if you are tolerant/very nice, people think you're dumb and bending over backwards for them. They will not accept liberalism or left wing propaganda of safe spaces and "you hurt my feels feels"..they're laughing at our weakness and are not becoming a more open society, as it looked like about 10 years ago ..no, they're clamping down...but as you have this overlap of believing in this Chinese myth, the rising dragon and the nationalism, and the actual true capabilities they have, it's a very dangerous mix not to underestimate. And we created it to a big part. But the average Chinese will not want to hear this. It's a truly dangerous time and I would not subscribe to underestimating them, as Jac did. They're ruthless, major human rights violators, a major tech and military powerhouse and they're about 20% of the human population. It's not gonna change because of a trade war. Sure, there is no country like America and America would win in most wars of choosing, but would likely lose most wars of Chinese choosing. They're close indeed and our own internal disputes with the kale munching lefties in our society who rather want to discuss gender fluidity or porn stars or Russia collusion or 36 year old sex between teenagers all day are not looking at the big picture. Geopolitical change is happening right in front of our eyes and Trump - for the first time in decades- is shifting fortune towards our favour. Nato has been made stronger. The us military has been made stronger. The EU's downward spiral during the Obama era seems now stopped (in part due to economic upturn but also because Europeans realised that Trump is right on immigrating and refugees and stopped the millions rushing in, which was not so much an economic burden but a burden on social coherence and identity of the EU because borders were gone). Trump is repulsive in many ways, but he might be the West's best chance of securing a more free world than without him. That's the irony in all of this. That's why China doesn't want him around next election.
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