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Counterfeit Air Power: Here's China's Copycat Airforce

China went from a regional to world power in record time, but it needed some "help" along the way.

China's entire air force was/is copied and manufactured by AVIC for the Chinese military
As China’s world influence expands, so is its military. An increasingly capable Navy, large investment in weapons tech, and its first overseas military base speak to President Xi Jinping’s goal to make China a global superpower.
But to match that ambition, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has turned to other countries for “inspiration” when it comes to outfitting its armed forces. Although buying or stealing foreign military technology could be seen as a strategic weakness, China skips expensive and time-consuming R&D.

And nowhere is fast-and-loose weapons adoption (and its inherent shortcomings) more apparent than in China’s Air Force.

Like the U.S, China deploys aircraft with a broad range of capabilities, but unlike the U.S. most of China’s planes are based on plans stolen from its adversaries. Here are nine of them.