Battleland

Beijing Doubling-Down on Stealth Fighters

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The F-60: China's fledging second stealth warplane

If a single stealth fighter is good, two must be better. The U.S. military, after all, thinks so: look at its F-22 and F-35 warplanes.

And now China is apparently joining the two-stealth-birds-in-the-hand are worth lots-on-the-drawing-board.

The new jet – the F-60 in Western intelligence circles – follows the J-20 as Beijing’s second fifth-generation fighter, characterized by radar-eluding stealth technology.

The twin-engine jet appears to be smaller than the J-20 and perhaps intended for use aboard China’s lone aircraft carrier, the Varyag, defense analysts suggest. Bill Gertz over at the Washington Free Beacon has more details.

It first surface last month on Chinese military websites and YouTube postings; in this clip, a young photographer apparently ignores orders told not to film the trailered F-60 as it passes by. A hand moves in front of her lens just after the plane passes by.

Kind of makes you wonder: if Chinese authorities wanted to keep this bird secret, why did they move it in broad daylight?