A new report by the Rand Corp. said Israel was ready to supply advanced
military technology withheld by NATO allies. The report said Israeli
companies have been less constrained in their offers to China's military
than their Western counterparts.
"Few, if any, foreign companies are willing to provide China with their
most advanced 'core' technologies, although Russian
and Israeli companies appear to be willing to provide China with some
advanced military technologies that U.S. or French companies would not," the
report, entitled "Modernizing China's Military Opportunities and
Constraints," said.
The Rand report, released in May 2005 during a deterioration in
U.S.-Israeli defense relations, was prepared for the U.S. Air
Force, Middle East Newsline reported. The report cited Israel and Russia as the key suppliers of military
technology to China.
For decades, Israel has supplied advanced military equipment to China,
the report said. It said Beijing would continue to purchase weapons from
Israel, particularly in areas beyond China's capability.
"Since the 1990s China has been following the third path — improving
domestic production while purchasing growing numbers
of advanced weapon systems from abroad, mostly from Russia and Israel," the
report said.
The report said Israel helped China with the design and production of
the J-10 multi-role aircraft. The J-10's design was "largely
derived from Israel's canceled Lavi fighter program, which in turn was based
on U.S. F-16 technology," Rand said.
Rand said Israel's importance as a supplier to China would decrease as
Beijing acquires greater capabilities, particularly in aerospace. Israel has
provided technology to China's combat jet program, but was said to be
limited regarding future assistance.
"In the absence of an indigenous combat aircraft program, Israel is
unlikely to be able to provide China with newer aviation technologies in
areas other than subsystems such as avionics," the report said. "Further
improvements in the capabilities of Chinese aircraft will increasingly
depend on domestic R&D and improvements in domestic production capabilities,
i.e., China's indigenous capacity for technological progress."
The report said Chinese arms sales dropped significantly in the 1990s in
wake of Iraq's defeat in the Gulf war in 1991. Iraq's military contained
numerous Chinese weapons, said to have performed poorly in the war against
the United States. The report said many Chinese weapons produced over the
last 25 years was based on 1950s Soviet technology.
