Espionage is fueling China's development of high-end weapons systems

Between its development of fifth-generation fighters and upgraded models of ballistic missiles, China's military is quickly becoming one of the most powerful and technologically advanced armed forces on the planet.

But it isn't happening because of Chinese technological ingenuity - at least not in the usual sense. One of the principal reasons for the country's new wave of hardware, USNI notes, is Beijing's willingness to copy and steal other nations' military technology.

China has already created prototypes that are remarkably similar to some of the US's most advanced weapons systems, such as the F-35, USNI reports. The similarities in appearance, design, and the timing of Chinese aircraft makes it likely that China has acquired at least some of the specifications of US weapons programs, likely through cyber espionage.

There have been several recent cases of alleged Chinese operatives attempting to steal information on US or allied systems. In July 2014, a Chinese entrepreneur was arrested in Canada at the request of the FBI after he allegedly stole 220 megabytes of data related to the F-22 fighter jet and an additional 65 gigabytes of data on the C-17, a transport aircraft. China is currently developing a new fifth-generation fighter that is believed to have been designed using stolen F-35 plans.

Such theft has the dual benefit of increasing the efficiency and lowering the cost of China's own military development - while also whittling away at the US's technological edge.

In November 2014, for instance, a senior US fighter pilot warned that China's future fifth-generation planes could equal the F-35 as a result of Chinese espionage.

The US is not the only victim of China's efforts to imitate other countries' military capabilities. USNI notes that China's Shenyang J-11B fighter appears to have been based extensively on Russia's Su-27 fighter. China bought 24 SU-27s before cancelling the sale in 2004.

It's unclear how capable China's knockoff weapons imitations actually are. Unlike Russian and American arms, Chinese weapons systems usually aren't used in the field. "I think the big issue with all Chinese weapons - including copies of Western equipment - is that they remain untested in combat," naval analyst Eric Wetheim told USNI.

"We just don't know how they will perform, so while they may be far less expensive than their western counterparts, many countries are understandably reluctant to take the risk of acquiring products that haven't passed the ultimate test of combat," Wertheim added. He suspects that some of the systems "may significantly underperform" compared to US or allied weaponry if they're ever used in combat.