China Scales Back Presence of War Machines at Singapore Airshow

The last time Singapore held its biennial airshow, China proudly showed off its Wing Loong long-range drone and Z-10 attack helicopter in a symbol of the nation’s technological prowess. This year, it had no war machines on the tarmac.

That’s puzzled at least a dozen defense industry members and analysts Bloomberg spoke with at the Singapore Airshow this week. The absence has been particularly surprising given China’s growing profile in weaponry such as the JF-17, the jointly-developed fighter jet that played a key role in last year’s brief conflict between Pakistan and India.