China’s counterstealth weapons – Wendell Minnick

Much attention last month for China’s first stealth fighter plane, and whether is was based on stolen US technology. Too little attention China’s counterstealth technology got, like missiles to shoot down those planes, writes Wendell Minnick in Defense News:

China’s top air-to-air missile research institute has invested considerable effort in designing such missiles.



New imagery available on Google Earth indicates China built a full-scale mock-up of the now-retired F-117 stealth fighter at the Luoyang Optoelectro Technology Development Center (LOEC) in Henan province. (View the mock F-117 at 34 degrees 39 minutes and 44.24 seconds north latitude and 112 degrees 25 min­utes and 45.19 seconds east longitude.)

A former U.S. defense attaché based in Beijing said the appearance of the mock-up is not surprising, noting that China has also built mock-ups of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II for study.



In Minnick’s article more on the question whether U.S. Air Force F-117 stealth fighter downed in Serbia in 1999 is in Chinese hands.

Image by Fantake via Flickr

Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.