Originally posted by roniii259
It is funny that people say that the US started out copying designs for our aircraft, but we didnt. Sure after WW2 we tested German fighters and
missiles, bu instead of outright copying it we modified our fighters with the tech( air plane engines, swept wings) but the airframe was
new.
In chronological order:
1) America had no air force before WW2. Well...they did...but the technology behind it was nothing short of pathetic.
2) The actual USAAF was formed in 1941.
3) The American planes were
inferior to the planes of the West.
4) American planes were up against # planes anyway (until the Japanese invented the highly manuevarable Zero)
5) Nazi Germany fell
6) America copied the technology behind Nazi planes (one of B-2's grandpas, Whitworth, was admitted to be a copy of the Horton HO, but in those days
"copying" was substituted with the word "counter"
).
7) Since this is a conspiracy forum, I might as well say that there are plenty of sites around the internet that claim that America's black projects
are primarily powered by the thinking of Nazi scientists.
In fact, if you guys are going to ramble on about copying, here's a perfect example; the B-2, the pride and joy of the USAF, strange that it's
strikingly similar to Horton 229 (the Horton is the plane behind the B-2 in the following pics):
As for Chinese planes being copies, I think it's all because of the lack of military funding in previous years. Until recently, the Chinese military
budget has been relatively low. Only now has the military budget began to surprise the West. Now given that their military spending has boomed, I
think they'll be shelling out something worthwhile in the near future. Their military spending is what? Second greatest in the world (don't take my
word for it, I have horrible memory
).
One also needs to consider China's goals. Are they trying to gain air superiority? The fact of the matter is no. The Chinese military is supposedly a
defensive military or so they claim. Their neighbors are little or no threat at all. Russia is deteriorating and has few troops stationed and ready to
face conflict in Siberia, India has been crushed in the past and has too many internal issues to be able to even beat the fledgling Pakistan, Japan
has a limited military due to post-WW2 treaties, and basically all the countries surrounding China are 3rd world (excluding Taiwan, Japan, and
Russia). Unless there was a major threat (for example, terrorism), which there isn't, then there's simply no need to gain the upper hand in the
air.
Of course, it seems that China is pursuing an aggressive stance as of lately be it conquering more territory or increasing its military budget. They
could possibly be defending their right over Taiwan though. Most of the Communist leadership is speculating that the current president of Taiwan hopes
to declare leadership soon.
[edit on 17-10-2004 by Blackout]
