1) It is unlikely that the J20 can match American hardware. So article is sensational. For 40 years CIA kept saying that the USSR was that much more powerful and that spurred US military spending.
2) In military race no one cares about copying. The Americans got their entire rocket/space program/Saturn V from captured German scientists. If the wanted to develop that technology in house (re invent the wheel) they would not have won the space race and be the first to put man in the moon. So everyone is out there trying to copy the best available technology.
3)The big race now is in space. Why do you think the Chinese are putting up their own GPS system. Or why do you think India is trying to develop their own launch vehicle. Because in a conflict, the first to go would be the satellites and countries need to be able to have a reliable way to replace these sats.
Just imagine if someone at the dawn of civilization patent the wheel. Does that mean that the world world would have to delay progress so as not in infringe on that technology?
In the arms race what matters is $, size of sophistication of the mfg industries - from high tech steel to gears to carbon fibre technology, etc.
For the Chinese, it is the matter of time before they get their own jet engine (they are putting $$ into the program and there is no lack of smart Chinese engineers). After that the learning curve will not be as steep and their progress will be rapid.
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2) In military race no one cares about copying. The Americans got their entire rocket/space program/Saturn V from captured German scientists. If the wanted to develop that technology in house (re invent the wheel) they would not have won the space race and be the first to put man in the moon. So everyone is out there trying to copy the best available technology.
3)The big race now is in space. Why do you think the Chinese are putting up their own GPS system. Or why do you think India is trying to develop their own launch vehicle. Because in a conflict, the first to go would be the satellites and countries need to be able to have a reliable way to replace these sats.
Just imagine if someone at the dawn of civilization patent the wheel. Does that mean that the world world would have to delay progress so as not in infringe on that technology?
In the arms race what matters is $, size of sophistication of the mfg industries - from high tech steel to gears to carbon fibre technology, etc.
For the Chinese, it is the matter of time before they get their own jet engine (they are putting $$ into the program and there is no lack of smart Chinese engineers). After that the learning curve will not be as steep and their progress will be rapid.
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