China Flexes Its Muscles with Stealth Fighter Flight Test

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China Flexes Its Muscles with Stealth Fighter Flight Test

By AUSTIN RAMZY Austin Ramzy – 19 mins ago

For a stealth fighter it was a remarkably obvious flight, but perhaps that was

the point. On a day when U.S. Defense Secretary Gates was in Beijing

meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, China's new stealth fighter took what

is believed to be its maiden test flight, according to a defense analyst.

The J-20 prototype took off from an airfield in the southwestern city of Chengdu

and flew for about 15 minutes, says Andrei Chang, Hong Kong-based

editor-in-chief of Kanwa Asian Defense. " This thing is political, " Chang says.

" They really want to show some muscle to the U.S.A. "

In recent weeks, the plane had undergone high-speed taxiing tests, with

photographs of the airborne jet posted on several Chinese blogs, the popular

Sina Weibo microblog service, and the online bulletin boards of some state media

outlets. There were no signs that censors had demanded the images be removed,

indicating that the authorities had approved unofficial coverage of the test.

While en route to Beijing, Gates told reporters that the U.S. had been tracking

the development of China's stealth fighter, but the earlier tests had come as

something of a surprise. " They may be somewhat further ahead in the development

of that aircraft than our intelligence had earlier predicted, " he said. (See

pictures of the making of modern China.)

The aim of Gates' trip was to seek China's help in containing North Korea and to

improve the often fraught relationship between the U.S. and Chinese militaries.

Beijing cut off exchanges with the U.S. military for much of 2010 after

President Barack Obama approved a $6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan in

January. Beijing contends that the democratic island is part of China's

territory and should ultimately be reunited with the mainland, by force if

necessary. (The U.S. pledged to continue offering defensive armaments to Taiwan

under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.)

The Chinese will also want to patch things up with the U.S. before Hu's state

visit to Washington, D.C. next week. Hu is expected to step down in 2012, and a

successful trip to the U.S. is key to cementing his legacy at home.

Gates has long expressed hope that the two nations' militaries could maintain a

steady relationship despite political differences. And while his Chinese

counterpart Gen. Liang Guanglie said Monday that both sides support a " healthy

and stable " military relationship, the Taiwan issue remains a clear point of

disagreement. " United States arms sales to Taiwan seriously damaged China's core

interests and we do not want to see that happen again, " Liang told reporters,

signaling that further sales could lead to another break in military ties.

Beyond Taiwan lies the question of China's growing investment in modernizing its

military. In addition to the stealth fighter, China is also developing an

anti-ship ballistic missile that could limit the access of U.S. aircraft

carriers and other vessels to waters in the Western Pacific. Liang sought to

play down the capability of the People's Liberation Army. " I firmly believe that

in terms of the level of modernization of the PLA, we can by no means call

ourselves an advanced military force, " he said on Monday. " The gap between us

and that of advanced countries is at least two to three decades. " (Comment on

this story.)

The U.S. F-22 is the only stealth fighter now in operation. But the test flight

of the J-20, which some analysts believed wouldn't happen for years, suggests

that China's military is catching up more quickly than Liang would admit. That

mixed message is deliberate, says defense analyst Chang. " They say that they are

far behind the U.S. and then they launch a new stealth fighter, " he says. " They

want to confuse people. This is their purpose. " (See pictures of China's

electronic waste village.)

Gates maintains that the U.S. will keep its edge in stealth aircraft development

for some time. " In 2020 or 2025 ... there would still be a vast disparity in the

number of deployed fifth-generation aircraft that the United States had compared

to anybody else in the world, " he told reporters on the flight to Beijing. He

added that there were doubts about the Chinese technology and " some question

about just how stealthy " its stealth fighter is. And on Tuesday at least, the

answer seemed to be: not at all.