It will also likely stretch outprograms, buyingfewer and spendinglesseach yearonJointStrikeFighters, attack submarinesand everything fromtrucks and earthmoversto firearms.
So they are buying a version of the next-generation joint strike fighter that can take off and land vertically, eliminating the need for long runways or aircraft carrier catapults.
With cash in hand, Chinese companies are expanding aggressively, and in a reversal of the situation 15 years ago, many are buying back the ownership stakes held by their cash-strapped foreign joint venture partners.
Most of the third-party studies by experts have concluded that buying an alternate engine to compete with the primary United Technologies engine in the joint strike fighter program would at best bring the government modest operational or budgetary benefits.