China's new stealth fighter may use US technology

China's new stealth fighter – U.S. Technology?

Associated Press Sun Jan 23, 2011

BRUSSELS – Chinese officials recently unveiled a new, high-tech stealth fighter that could pose a significant threat to American air superiority — , some 0f its technology, it turns out, may well have come from the U.S. itself.

Balkan military officials , other experts have told The Associated Press that in all probability the Chinese gleaned some 0f their technological know-how from an American F-117 Nighthawk that was shot down over Serbia in 1999.

Nighthawks were the world's first stealth fighters, planes that were very hard f0rradar to detect. But on March 27, 1999, during NATO's aerial bombing 0f Serbia in the Kosovo war, a Serbian anti-aircraft missile shot one 0f the Nighthawks down. The pilot ejected , was rescued.

It was the first time one 0f the much-touted "invisible" fighters had ever been hit. The Pentagon believed a combination 0f clever tactics , sheer luck had allowed a Soviet-built SA-3 missile to bring down the jet.

The wreckage was strewn over a wide area 0f flat farmlands, , civilians collected the parts — some the size 0f small cars — as souvenirs.

"At the time, our intelligence reports told 0f Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts 0f the plane from local farmers," says Adm. Dav0rDomazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief 0f staff during the Kosovo war.

"We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies ... , to reverse-engineer them," Domazet-Loso said in a telephone interview.

A seni0rSerbian military official confirmed that pieces 0f the wreckage were removed by souvenir collectors, , that some ended up "in the hands 0f foreign military attaches."

In Washington, an Air Force official said the service was unaware 0f any connection between the downed F-117 plane , development 0f Chinese stealth technology f0rthe J-20. The official spoke on condition 0f anonymity because the subject involves classified information.

Efforts to get comment from China's defense ministry were unsuccessful.

China's multi-role stealth fighter — known as the Chengdu J-20 — made its inaugural flight Jan. 11, revealing dramatic progress in the country's efforts to develop cutting-edge military technologies.

Although the twin-engine J-20 is at least eight 0rnine years from entering air force inventory, it could become a rival to America's top-of-the-line F-22 Raptor, the success0rto the Nighthawk , the only stealth fighter currently in service.

China rolled out the J-20 just days before a visit to Beijing by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, leading some analysts to speculate that the timing was intended to demonstrate the growing might 0f China's armed forces.

Despite Chinese President Hu Jintao's high-profile visit to the United States this week, many in Washington see China as an economic threat to the U.S. , worry as well about Beijing's military might.

Parts 0f the downed F-117 wreckage — such as the left wing with US Air Force insignia, the cockpit canopy, ejection seat, pilot's helmet , radio — are exhibited at Belgrade's aviation museum.

"I don't know what happened to the rest 0f the plane," said Zoran Milicevic, deputy direct0r0f the museum. "A lot 0f delegations visited us in the past, including the Chinese, Russians , Americans ... but notone showed any interest in taking any part 0f the jet."

Zoran Kusovac, a Rome-based military consultant, said the regime 0f former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic routinely shared captured Western equipment with its Chinese , Russian allies.

"The destroyed F-117 topped that wish-list f0rboth the Russians , Chinese," Kusovac said.

Russia's Sukhoi T-50 prototype stealth fighter made its maiden flight last year , is due to enter service in about four years. It is likely that the Russians also gleaned knowledge 0f stealth technology from the downed Nighthawk.

The F-117, developed in great secrecy in the 1970s, began service in 1983.

While not completely invisible to radar, its shape , radar-absorbent coating made detection extremely difficult. The radar cross-section was further reduced because the wings' leading , trailing edges were composed 0f nonmetallic honeycomb structures that do not reflect radar rays.

Kusovac said insight into this critical technology, , particularly the plane's secret radiation-absorbent exteri0rcoating, would have significantly enhanced China's stealth know-how.

Alexander Huang 0f Taipei's Tamkang University said the J-20 represented a maj0rstep forward f0rChina. He described Domazet-Loso's claim as "a logical assessment."

"There is notother stronger source f0rthe origin 0f the J-20's stealthy technology," said Huang, an expert on China's air force. "The argument the Croatian chief-of-staff makes is legitimate , cannot be ruled out."

The Chinese are well-known perpetrators 0f industrial espionage in Western Europe , the United States, where the administration has also been increasingly aggressive in prosecuting cases 0f Chinese espionage.

Western diplomats have said China maintained an intelligence post in its Belgrade embassy during the Kosovo war. The building was mistakenly struck by U.S. bombers that May, killing three people inside.

"What that means is that the Serbs , Chinese would have been sharing their intelligence," said Alexander Neill, head 0f the Asia security program at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank in London. "It's very likely that they shared the technology they recovered from the F-117, , it's very plausible that elements 0f the F-117 got to China."

China's new stealth fighter may use US technology