Touching on the topic of reverse engineering, Nayak indirectly questioned China and said: “Is reverse engineering ethical or is it an illegitimate entry through the backdoor?” He added that the world knew of a country that recently got a fifth generation aircraft recently.
The Wall Street Journal in one of its reports summarised how the Chinese were able to build the current generation of fighters — the J-11B. In 1996, Russia agreed to supply 200 SU-27s to the Chinese.
In 2004, China abruptly cancelled the contract after 104 such planes were developed and in three years, a Chinese version of the SU-27 was shown flying on state television –– reflecting their ability in reverse engineering.
Although Naik did not name China, it was apparent that the remark was directed at India’s northern neighbour and its latest aircraft, which is ahead of India’s Tejas and is meant to be a fourth-generation aircraft. It will probably be in line with, or more advanced than, India’s fifth-generation aircraft T-50, being jointly developed with Russia.
Barely a month after China unveiled the new aircraft, there have been reports about China’s new aircraft and the use of some reverse engineering in building it.
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