They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in the case of the U.S. and China, the blatant imitation has often seemed much more sinister.
Among the many things China has ripped off wholesale from the U.S., including the interstate system and a booming industry of cheap knockoffs of American products, one of them, apparently, is now a drone that crashed in China back in 1971.
As reported Wednesday on the Defense Blog, observers have spotted a new unmanned aircraft in Chinese airspace.
Known as the WZ-8, observers first saw it attached to the underside of a People’s Liberation Army Air Force Xian H-6 bomber.
The WZ-8 is a high-speed reconnaissance drone. Many of those same observers noticed that the WZ-8 bears a striking resemblance to the defunct American Lockheed D-21 drone.
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Originally part of a project to create a series of unmanned drones to spy on Cold War enemies like the Soviet Union, the D-21 was the last of four failed prototypes that spelled the doom of the project, according to Business Insider.
Launched in March of 1971, the D-21 was supposed to gather intelligence about a Chinese nuclear test site, but instead crashed into China’s southwestern Yunnan province.
It had been mostly forgotten until 2019, when, during celebrations for the Chinese Communist regime’s 70th anniversary, the government unveiled the WZ-8, which had the same dark color and streamlined design of the D-21.
The National Interest even noticed that the WZ-8 drone was launched from a mothership just like the D-21.
Should China be considered America’s top adversary?
Granted, China will, most likely, never confirm their blatant plagiarism, and the images that have been taken are rather unclear.
🇨🇳 The Chinese Xian H-6 strategic bomber was spotted (second photo, first render) with a Chinese WZ-8 supersonic drone slung over its shoulder. The WZ-8’s mission is to conduct reconnaissance in Southeast Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.
A supersonic reconnaissance… pic.twitter.com/g79GgzTJxu
— Jesse Pinkman (@ictusconfirmed) April 19, 2024
However, based on those images, it did seem clear that China copied the D-21 wholesale, with a few modifications, like reportedly being designed to fly at three times the speed of sound, as well as reaching altitudes of 100,000 feet, or nearly 19 miles.
Again, China has become notorious for its copycat tactics, but this particular copy might be more sinister than most.
For one thing, modern China has far surpassed what it was even a mere 30 years ago.
The country’s industrial capacity has far surpassed every other nation in record time. It has now turned much of its engineering and production toward military projects.
Additionally, China will probably try to keep up that same rapid pace of advancements in both technology and manufacturing, while applying those advancements to beefing up their military equipment and capabilities.
If they do, then they could emerge as a much more dangerous and formidable foe than ever before.
The United States could not and cannot afford to look away as this massive country continues to arm itself and aggressively posture.
Because, if the United States is not vigilant, China will do more than just copy the U.S.
They might even try to supplant it as the world’s dominant superpower.
