Dragon Emperor
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2010
- Messages
- 276
- Reaction score
- 0
Trading Away Secrets
Posted 06:52 PM ET
Technology Transfer: During the visit of China's president, and as China's new stealth fighter takes to the sky, America's top jet engine manufacturer agrees to provide Beijing with state-of-the-art aircraft technology.
The aircraft industry remains one of America's strongest manufacturing sectors, providing needed jobs and industrial sales. Already buffeted by the heavily subsidized European Airbus, it may also face stiffer competition one day from a Chinese behemoth buying what American technology it cannot steal.
General Electric plans this week to sign a joint-venture agreement under which it will share its most sophisticated airplane electronics, including technology from Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, with state-owned Aviation Industry Corp. of China, or Avic.
The agreement will supply the Chinese Comac C919, which is challenging Boeing and Airbus in the market for single-aisle jets with more than 100 seats. The C919, expected to carry up to 200 passengers, is intended to compete with Boeing's 737 and the Airbus 3200.
Analysts don't expect many sales outside of China. But the deal provides the base for a Chinese commercial aircraft industry expected to eventually challenge Western giants. China has surprised many in its ability to compete with the West in many areas.
Avionics are electronics that control an aircraft's basic in-flight operations. The risk is that in exchange for short-term sales, however significant, GE is providing a future industrial competitor with technology that also has military applications.
China recently rolled out its version of our fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighter. Critics have said the Chinese J-20 will be in need of better avionics and more powerful jet engines to fulfill its ominous potential.
The GE deal supposedly forbids transfer of any technology to military applications. The joint venture to be headquartered in Shanghai will occupy separate offices from Avic's military division, and the computer systems involved are said to be incapable of transferring data to that division. Anyone working on the project is barred for two years from working on Avic's military projects.
Yet China's disrespect for intellectual property rights is legendary. So is its ability to hack into and retrieve information from computer systems worldwide. Paul Kurtz, who served on the National Security Council in both the Clinton and Bush administrations, recently spoke before the first open hearing on cybersecurity held by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Kurtz put industry's annual loss of intellectual property due to hackers at more than $200 billion annually. "American industry and government are spending billions of dollars to develop new products and technology that are being stolen at little or no cost by our adversaries," Kurtz said. "Nothing is off-limits pharmaceuticals, biotech, IT, engine design ... weapons design."
Trading Away Secrets - Investors.com
Posted 06:52 PM ET
Technology Transfer: During the visit of China's president, and as China's new stealth fighter takes to the sky, America's top jet engine manufacturer agrees to provide Beijing with state-of-the-art aircraft technology.
The aircraft industry remains one of America's strongest manufacturing sectors, providing needed jobs and industrial sales. Already buffeted by the heavily subsidized European Airbus, it may also face stiffer competition one day from a Chinese behemoth buying what American technology it cannot steal.
General Electric plans this week to sign a joint-venture agreement under which it will share its most sophisticated airplane electronics, including technology from Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, with state-owned Aviation Industry Corp. of China, or Avic.
The agreement will supply the Chinese Comac C919, which is challenging Boeing and Airbus in the market for single-aisle jets with more than 100 seats. The C919, expected to carry up to 200 passengers, is intended to compete with Boeing's 737 and the Airbus 3200.
Analysts don't expect many sales outside of China. But the deal provides the base for a Chinese commercial aircraft industry expected to eventually challenge Western giants. China has surprised many in its ability to compete with the West in many areas.
Avionics are electronics that control an aircraft's basic in-flight operations. The risk is that in exchange for short-term sales, however significant, GE is providing a future industrial competitor with technology that also has military applications.
China recently rolled out its version of our fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighter. Critics have said the Chinese J-20 will be in need of better avionics and more powerful jet engines to fulfill its ominous potential.
The GE deal supposedly forbids transfer of any technology to military applications. The joint venture to be headquartered in Shanghai will occupy separate offices from Avic's military division, and the computer systems involved are said to be incapable of transferring data to that division. Anyone working on the project is barred for two years from working on Avic's military projects.
Yet China's disrespect for intellectual property rights is legendary. So is its ability to hack into and retrieve information from computer systems worldwide. Paul Kurtz, who served on the National Security Council in both the Clinton and Bush administrations, recently spoke before the first open hearing on cybersecurity held by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Kurtz put industry's annual loss of intellectual property due to hackers at more than $200 billion annually. "American industry and government are spending billions of dollars to develop new products and technology that are being stolen at little or no cost by our adversaries," Kurtz said. "Nothing is off-limits pharmaceuticals, biotech, IT, engine design ... weapons design."
Trading Away Secrets - Investors.com
