China confirms J-20 stealth jet test
Baku, January 12 (AZERTAC). President Hu Jintao reportedly confirmed that China`s first stealth fighter jet, the J-20, underwent its first test flight Tuesday, making the first official acknowledgement of the plane`s existence since the surfacing of online photos in December.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, currently in Beijing, was told that the test was not timed to coincide with his trip. His visit has seen Chinese military figures and officials frequently repeat that China`s military development remains decades behind that of Western countries.
"I asked Hu about it directly, and he said that the test had absolutely nothing to do with my visit and had been a pre-planned test. And that`s where we left it," Gates was quoted by Reuters as saying Tuesday.
Responding to a question on the fighter jet, Guan Youfei, deputy director of Foreign Affairs Office of the Defense Ministry, said Tuesday that China`s military hardware development was not aimed at any other country.
During his meeting with Gates, Hu stated that China and the US share extensive common interests and enjoy broad prospects for cooperation, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The Pentagon chief hailed his Beijing visit as a "positive" step forward but called for patience, saying military ties with China could not be improved overnight, AFP reported.
Gates will visit the command base of the Second Artillery Force of the People`s Liberation Army (PLA) today before flying on to Seoul.
Despite the absence of official technical details of the J-20, some Western analysts are comparing it to the US Air Force`s F-22 Raptor stealth jet, the world`s only operational fifth-generation stealth fighter.
Retired US Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney wrote in a Fox News story last week that the F-35 will be no match for the J-20, repeating his call for inserting funding for F-22s into the Pentagon`s defense budget for 2011.
Other news in this section
