John Bolton Accuses China of Stealing F-35 Technology to Make a Stealth Fighter. Is This What He Was Talking About?

US National Security Adviser John Bolton recently accused China of stealing US technology to make a stealth fighter, a charge Beijing has denied.

On a visit to Ukraine last week, Bolton said an unnamed fifth-generation aircraft “looks a lot like the F-35, that’s because it is the F-35. They just stole it”. . .

The FC-31 is made by the Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, a branch of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

The aircraft, which made its maiden flight in 2012, has broadly similar specifications to the F-35 although it does have twin engines rather than the American jet’s single engine.

The Chinese fighter has a maximum take off weight of 25 tonnes, a combat range of 1,200km (746 miles) and a top speed of Mach 1.8, or 2,205km/h (1,370mph), whereas the US fighter’s take-off weight varies between 27 and 32 tonnes, has a top speed of Mach 1.6 and a range of up to 2,200km (1,367 miles). (Read more from “John Bolton Accuses China of Stealing F-35 Technology to Make a Stealth Fighter. Is This What He Was Talking About?” HERE)

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