Natalie Winters@nataliegwinters · Aug 19, 2026

REVEALED: A researcher who worked on $2.5M+ in DARPA, U.S. Air Force and Army-backed programs is now developing…

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Summary

A researcher who spent eight years at the University of Oklahoma working on DARPA, Air Force, and Army-funded defense programs involving infrared detection technology returned to China and is now developing similar technology for Chinese military applications. The case highlights how U.S.-funded defense research expertise can be transferred to strategic competitors through researcher mobility.

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#1
REVEALED: A researcher who worked on $2.5M+ in DARPA, U.S. Air Force and Army-backed programs is now developing Chinese infrared technology to “break” America’s technology blockade. The technology has applications involving missiles, rockets and military aircraft. 🧵
#2
Jijun Qiu spent eight years at the University of Oklahoma. His Chinese university calls him a “core technical backbone” on U.S. defense projects supported by DARPA, the Air Force and Army. Then he returned to China.
#3
The technology was explicitly military-relevant. A U.S. patent naming Qiu says infrared detection is important to defense involving “jet aircraft, rocket-powered aircraft and missiles.” It identifies Air Force and Army funding. The U.S. government retained rights.
#4
While still working at Oklahoma in 2017, Dalian brought Qiu to China to lecture on uncooled infrared detectors—the exact field U.S. defense agencies were funding. Dalian named him a specially invited lecturer. By 2019, he was working there full-time.
#5
Today, Dalian says infrared detectors are part of China’s “national security strategy.” Qiu is now developing Chinese-owned technology to “break foreign technological monopoly and blockade.” America funded the work. China got the expertise. nataliegwinters.substack.com/p/revealed-res…