OT somewhat. China, our aircraft, delays.

Hi, Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> said: I'm not offended in the leats! I think it's all very interesting even if it is OT. Electronic spying has been going on since radio was invented. As for other countries, I know our RAF planes regularly _very_ closely escort Russian planes over the North Atlantic etc. I would have thought the need for these flights would have declined since there are so many satellites up there doing the same job, but I suppose they also need to monitor signals such as those in the bands that are absorbed by water vapour and CO2 which are increasingly used for secure short range comms. Also you want to trigger their radar systems and monitor them. Anyway it never hurts to show the flag! As for the radome, it probably contained an ordinary radar antenna the details of which the Chinese could have got from "Janes Avionics" but there's no substitute for getting your hands on the hardware... -- Cheers, Stan Barr stanb(a)dial.pipex.com The future was never like this!