• balsoft@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    4 days ago

    Just another “free thinker” who believes that a country of 1 billion people, with good quality cheap/free higher education, a massive industrial base, and half a trillion dollars of annual R&D expenditure, can’t develop tech on their own. I’m sure there’s industrial/military espionage going on, but China is also pulling ahead in many research areas independently. With the way US is treating its scientists, I fully expect in a few years China will be the dominant STEM player in the world, US being second or third after europe.

    Would they benefit from having an F-35 to take apart? Yes. Will they build a relatively competitive fighter jet without any F-35 tech for half the price or less? Also yes.