US military caught using mockup Chinese jet for practice

The US military has reportedly been caught using a full-size replica of an advanced Chinese fighter jet for training purposes, a move experts say reflects Washington’s growing concerns over China’s growing military prowess.

The mock-up was based on the Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth fighter jet and was first spotted at a military facility near the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport in Georgia, home to the US Air Dominance Center (ADC), the South China Morning Post reported Sunday.

First photographed on December 5, details about the jet were published two days later by the website TheAviationist.com. However, the report was not taken seriously until the military blog asked Colonel Emmanuel Haldopoulos, the commander of the ADC, about the report’s authenticity.

Haldopoulos said in response that the mock-up plane was “a full-scale replica and remained at the air base for a short period” between December 4 and 6.

According to the commander, the US Marine Corps was “funding and directing the training objectives of this device, which he said was only used for ground training.

On Friday, the Marine Corps Training and Education Command (TECOM) said in a statement that it was “contracted with the US Army Threat Systems Management Office to provide full-scale, realistic aircraft and vehicle mock-ups for multiple Marine Corps bases,” including the J-20 model.

“The initial aircraft mock-up identified was a J-20 fighter to develop as a proof of concept, with a plan to develop additional threat aircraft and vehicles in the future,” the statement said.

First unveiled in 2011, the fifth-generation Chinese aircraft is generally seen as a direct response to America's F-35 stealth fighter jet.

TECOM said the replica jet had been involved in various experiments and military training while at the base.

“[It] was moved to ADC Savannah, Georgia to evaluate the assembly and disassembly process, heat and light signatures, and prepare for movement to the chosen training area in North Carolina,” the statement said.

However, it claimed that the prototype was not designed for flight training missions, including dogfights.

The J-20 mock-up is not the first replica foreign jet to have been built by the US military for training, but it is unusual for images of them to be so freely available.

US military trainers have often used American aircraft with similar capabilities to their enemy models for the purposes of combat simulation.

In the Soviet era, the US Navy Fighter Weapons School used the A-4 Skyhawk to simulate various Soviet fighters, while the F-5E was used for the MiG-21.

In 2016, it was reported that the US had painted F/A-18 fighter jets with blue patterns similar to those employed by the Russian military.

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The full-size replica of a Chinese jet, however, suggests the US military now deems China’s air force, and the J-20, as a substantial threat.

Sean King, a former US diplomat who is now senior vice-president of political strategy firm Park Strategies, said it was no longer a secret that Washington sees Beijing as its primary strategic competitor.

He said Washington’s strategic priority had shifted from Russia to China.

“The mock-up speaks to the fact that mainland China is a major US strategic rival. I would go so far as to say Beijing’s our primary state actor rival,” he said. “Conflict is by no means inevitable, but it’s always better to be prepared. I can bet you the [People’s Liberation Army is] gaming out every possible angle against [the US].”

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