Did China steal F-22 and F-35 designs to benefit its ongoing fighter efforts? The answer is unequivocally yes. But is that a reason to dismiss the threat posed by these aircraft and others to follow? No.
A recent report about a senior U.S. military officer who publicly stated that the much-feared, much-vaunted J-20 ain’t all it’s cracked up to be is making waves.
Beijing has great faith in the capabilities of the J-20, its first fifth-generation stealth fighter, and it has gone to great lengths to see that production has sped up considerably.
On paper, the J-20 has some advantages while the F-22 boasts others. Practically, however, as General Kenneth Wilsbach, head of U.S. Air Forces Pacific said “I don’t think that [the J-20] is a dominating aircraft at this point, compared to what we have.” While the Chinese aerospace industry is undoubtedly making great strides in producing advanced aircraft, the U.S. still has