In early January, there were several images of a fighter plane published online that caught the attention of the international society.
The images were snapshots of a prototype J-20 fighter aircraft in a high-speed taxi test. A high-speed taxi test is one of the last steps before an aircraft makes its fight operational flight.
What was more surprising was that the aircraft seemed to be equipped with stealth technology. Stealth technology is used in a variety of military adaptations that allow certain objects to evade radar detection by manipulating the shape of its metal surfaces. Aircraft equipped with stealth technology are considered fifth generation fighters, and the United States Air Force is the only air force known to have acquired them. They have not yet been used in conventional warfare, so nobody knows of its full implications, only speculations.
This recent development is very alarming considering the fact that the United States and China have been clashing through several disputes over the last year.
The recent U.S. government's complaints about the manipulation of the Chinese currency and the jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate are only two of the conflicts between the two. Not only that, the U.S. military has a number of military assets deployed in the East Asia region, which will be harder to defend when this J-20 fighter becomes fully functional. There is no doubt that this will be a taxing issue for a number of President Barack Obama's military advisers because the U.S. economy is not in shape for another heavy military spending and investment.
It looks to be that the U.S. is slowly losing the upper hand in its comparative military superiority over China, and there is not much it can do to stop this recent military spending.
What is more interesting is that China is also increasing the development of its unmanned aerial vehicles. In the Zhuhai airshow, which opened in November 2010, China showcased a stunning number of 25 models of UAVs when it was only able to showcase a handful in 2008.
Additional rumors are that China will start building not one, but two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. By any objective means of measurement, the U.S. still remains a dominant military actor in the world arena now, but that seat in power will not last long because the Chinese military is quickly catching up with its powerhouse economy funding it.
The next few months will decide whether this rivalry between the two nations will spur an arms race similar to what we saw during the Cold War. The outcomes of this competition will drive new quarrels in new areas.
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