Breaking news
Russia and China sign major deal for delivery of 24 Su-35S multirole fighter aircraft.
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World Aviation Defense & Security News - Russia and China
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Russia and China sign major deal for delivery of 24 Su-35S multirole fighter aircraft
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Russia and China have made a major deal for 24 Sukhoi Su-35S (NATO reporting name: Flanker-E+) multirole fighters, according to the Russian media, with the unit price estimated at $83-85 million and the whole deal at $2 billion at the least. "The protracted talks on the Su-35 for China have been completed, and we have signed the contract," Rostec Corp. Director General Sergei Chemezov told the Kommersant daily.
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 Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter aircraft |
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"China has officially become the foreign launch customer for the Su-35. This is an unprecedented contract as far as warplane sales are concerned," stressed one of the officials the Kommersant has talked with. The type is in service only with the Russian Air Force for now.
A ranking Khabarovsk Territory official has confirmed to TASS that the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant (a subsidiary of Sukhoi that itself is a subsidiary of the United Aircraft Corporation) would build 24 Su-35s for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). "There was a session of the Chinese-Russian negotiations in Komsomolsk-on-Amur last Sunday. They have been under way for several years now. The Chinese Armed Forces are interested in the Su-35 fighter and the feasibility of having them in their inventory. The contract covers 24 Su-35 fighters," the source said, noting that China had become the foreign launch customer for the Generation 4++ plane. The Su-35 is a Gen. 4++ fighter. It has a maximum speed of 2,500 km/h, a range of 3,400 km, a 30-mm gun and 12 stations for a panoply of precision-guided weapons. China remains a major partner of Russia in arms trade. Russia had provided China with military hardware worth $25.815 billion from 2000 to 2014. China is among Russia’s key partners as far as combat aircraft export is concerned. It had taken delivery of 28 Su-27SK (Flanker) fighters and Su-27UBK combat trainers from 2000 to 2002, with the batch’s price estimated at $1 billion). At the same time, China displayed interest in buying the more sophisticated Su-30MKK version as well. The country had received 38 Su-30MKKs worth about $2 billion from 2000 to 2001 and another batch of 38 aircraft of the type worth $2 billion from 2002 to 2003. Then, 24 Su-30MKK2 naval fighters were exported to China in 2004. Due to problems with military transport aircraft, China acquired Russian-made Ilyushin Il-76M (Candid) airlifters. Five pre-owned aircraft of the type were delivered in 2013 and one more was prepared for the conversion into an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft with the use of Israeli-made electronics. Later on, the AEW&C order was cancelled, and the plane was delivered without the dedicated electronics. China used to licence-produce Russian-developed combat aircraft as well. In particular, it had pursued a program on the licence production of 200 Su-27SK fighters from 1998 to 2007. Only 105 aircraft were made in the end. PLAAF designated them as Jian-11 (J-11). The licence-production of the remaining 95 aircraft was cancelled for a number of reasons. China has been a proactive importer of Russian helicopters as well. Nine Kamov Ka-28PL (Helix-A) antisubmarine helicopters had been imported from 2009 to 2010 and nine Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopters from 2010-2011. A total of 320 Mil Mi-8/171 (Hip) helicopters, including the Mi-171/171E, Mi-17V-5 and Mi-17V-7 versions, had been delivered to China from 1995 to 2014. To equip its aircraft, China has been acquiring Russian air-launched weapons on a large scale. Around 3,000 R-73 air-to-air missiles had been delivered from 1996 to 2004, about 100 Kh-29 antiship missiles from 2001 to 2002, approximately 150 Kh-59ME Ovod (2004-2006), about 750 RVV-AE air-to-air missiles (2002-2009) and some 175 Kh-59MK/MK2 antiship missiles (2008-2014). The country also had licence-produced approximately 910 Kh-31A/P antiship missiles from 2001-2014. At the same time, China has been acquiring Russian airborne radars as well, with around 100 Zhuk-8 radars imported from 2001-2005 and a Zmei radar in 2003. |
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