China has stolen US military secrets to create formidable J-20 knockoff of America’s F-22 Raptor: experts

China has obtained its fifth-generation fighter jet by copying US military technology, experts told Fox News Digital, and if more is not done to protect sensitive weapons information it could be a threat to the US military. The pacing can keep up the challenge.

“What we do know is that because of the espionage efforts, [China’s] The J-20 is more advanced than it would otherwise be, and that’s the key point here,” James Anderson, former acting undersecretary of defense for policy, said in an interview.

“He has profited greatly from his thievery over the years,” he said. “They’ve put it to good use, and they’ve come up with an advanced fifth-generation fighter,” noting that “it’s hard to say the least in real combat” about how the J-20 matches up against the US F-22. Hai Raptor Fighter.

China began developing its J-20 in 2008 as part of a plan to design a new fighter that could compete with those in the US. The aircraft first flew in 2011, entering service in 2017.

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In 2015, reports on the aircraft’s technology and capabilities began to show similarities between it and American fighter jets, with the Associated Press reporting that “some of its technology, it turns out, may well have been borrowed from the US.” Must have come.”

Now China has a fifth-generation stealth fighter similar to the US F-22, closing a once almost insurmountable gap between the two militaries in terms of technical capabilities – all thanks to continued intellectual property theft. The gulf between US and Chinese military technology has received renewed attention as tensions between the two countries continue to rise and officials continue to discuss a possible invasion of Taiwan, which could involve a US military response.

The F-22 Raptor, left, and the Chinese J-20 are fifth-generation fighter aircraft. (Paul Kroc/AFP via Getty Images/File | Fu Tian/China News Service via Getty Images/File)

James Hayes, a professor in the School of Security and Global Studies at the American Public University System (APUS), said that ultimately the US will have to contend with China’s “philosophical differences” and its desire to “do what is best for China”.

“You can also look at China’s history with an overall culture of things that have provided good for society,” Hayes said. “The lack of enforcement is probably more reflective of a culture … There’s definitely a cultural aspect to it.”

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“There’s a writer who said, ‘Stealing a book is a beautiful crime,’ so you have this kind of mindset, that knowledge is not necessarily seen as theft of knowledge … it’s not a capital crime in any way.” “It’s seen as a good thing, that it’s a positive thing that you’re doing.”

Anderson explained that China uses “old-fashioned” and “low-tech” espionage techniques in addition to more advanced methods ranging from the use of spies and honey traps and bribery to recruit American contractors, university academics and government personnel. Cyber ​​activity to obtain critical data on military systems.

An F-22 Raptor flies by in this undated image provided by Lockheed Martin. (Lockheed Martin via Getty Images)

“Unfortunately, they’ve had some success there,” Anderson said, adding that he spent “more than a decade” repeatedly going after the Joint Strike Fighter, which he has exploited in the design and construction of the J-20. .

Anderson said, “This saves the Chinese time and money. In fact, we subsidize a portion of their research and development budget because they are successfully stealing some of our secrets.” “Ultimately, it puts our men and women on the battlefield at greater risk.”

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Matt McInnis, senior fellow in the China Program at the Institute for the Study of War, said China’s “focus … on acquiring jet engine technology after decades of struggling” to keep up with US and Western arms more” highlighted.

“As someone who has watched China for a long time, it’s always the joke… will the Chinese ever be able to make their own jet engine?” McInnis said. “Therefore, they have gradually become more independent in building jet engines for their more advanced aircraft.”

J-20 fighter plane (VCG / VCG via Getty Images)

According to McInnis, the drive to “understand more sophisticated jet engines” in the West remains a significant driving force for Chinese espionage.

He pointed to the 2022 case of Yanjun Xu, a Chinese spy who was convicted of trying to steal trade secrets from several US aviation and aerospace companies, including the theft of proprietary airplane engine fan technology.

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US prosecutors said Xu began recruiting experts from companies such as GE Aviation in Cincinnati as early as 2013, but lawyers say he was not a spy and never solicited trade secrets.

“It was really a great victory for the United States to be able to resolve this particular case, but at the same time, we still see what China is trying to do with technology, espionage,” Engaging China “is still probably the single greatest threat to US national security,” McInnis said.

McInnis also noted recent efforts involving the recruitment of former British pilots to mentor and train People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilots, which “provided another way to acquire Western technical knowledge.”

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“The Chinese baseline of what the Russians have given them and what they were able to steal from us and European manufacturers has brought them to perhaps only a 10- or 15-year gap between us and Chinese jet engine technology, while Earlier they were 20 to 30 years behind us.”