A TOP US Navy official downplayed concerns about China’s first stealth fighter on Wednesday but admitted America had been surprised by the pace of some of the Asian juggernaut’s military development.
On the eve of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates’s visit to Beijing, photographs indicated a prototype of the J-20 had been completed after tests last week at an airfield in south-western China.
But Vice-Admiral David Dorsett, the director of US naval intelligence, predicted it would be ‘years’ before China’s new fighter would be operational. ‘Developing a stealth capability with a prototype and then integrating that into a combat environment is going to take some time,’ he said.
Vice-Admiral Dorsett said he was not surprised the Chinese were developing a stealth fighter to rival America’s fifth generation F-22 Raptor.
Military analysts warn that China is developing a new version of its Dongfeng 21 (DF-21D) ballistic missile that could pierce the defences of even the most sturdy US naval vessels and has a range far beyond Chinese waters.
‘We underestimated when they would be competent and capable of delivering a technological weapon of that type,’ Vice-Admiral Dorsett told reporters.
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