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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Vice-Admiral Dorsett said he was not surprised the Chinese were developing a stealth fighter to rival America’s fifth generation F-22 Raptor.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
‘We underestimated when they would be competent and capable of delivering a technological weapon of that type,’ Vice-Admiral Dorsett told reporters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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