BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:00 P.M.) – China introduced its new homegrown J-20 stealth fighter jet this past Summer, showing high resolution photos of this next-generation aircraft during the anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) founding.
The Chinese stealth fighter, however, was reported to have many features that were identical to their Western competitors.
According to the Task and Purpose publication, one of these features is the two electro-optical systems that share a few similarities with their Lockheed Martin competitor.
The Task and Purpose article pointed out that the J-20’s photos revealed that its sensor system was similar to Lockheed Martin’s F-35.
“The new photos of the J-20 provide an up close and personal look at the fuselage of the new interceptor. But the photos also appear to show a sensor system that looks awfully similar to the Lockheed Martin Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) on the front of the F-35 Lighting II,” they reported.
According to the publication, Chinese hackers stole technical documents in 2007 that were related to the development of the F-35.
“The details on the hack, eventually revealed in documents leaked by Edward Snowden, are just one example of Chinese attempts to steal foreign aviation technology; as recently as 2017, Chinese hackers went after Australian F-35 defense contractors, nabbing even more info on the cutting-edge fighter,” Task and Purpose said.
Furthermore, the Chinese aircraft also appears to share a few features with the Russian Sukhoi jets, including the same AL-31F engine as the Su-27.
The publication would add that China’s push to develop the J-20 was due to problems with their J-15 carrier-based fighter jet that was supposed to rival the U.S.’ F-22 Raptor.
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