EU Considers Lifting China Arms Embargo

Common sense dictates that the Chinese defense industry is working on AESA radar. The lack of photos is about as irrelevant as the lack of photos for Russian PAK-FA. We all know it's coming sooner or later. The question remains is how far is the R&D process.

The relationship between Pakistan and China is very different from that of Myanmar. China has invested a lot of assistance and tech transfer to the Pakistani military aviation industry over the past few decades. Products like the K-8 and JF-17 are proofs of this relationship. For Pakistan, it's not a simple matter of choosing a plane from foreign suppliers.

Myanmar has no domestic aviation industry. There's no aircraft assembly facility and anything they buy, it a purchase and delivery. The MiG-29 has a terrible combat record, but has been around nearly 3 decades and went through many upgrades and improvements. It's a more mature platform than the J-10. Buying the MiG-29SMT is a more conservative choice to obtain balance vs. Royal Thai AF F-16 and JAS-39's.

During the Soviet era, the qualify of their aircraft workmanship was not geared toward long service life. Their combat aircraft were built to one massive confrontation in WW3, and the machines were pushed to their limits to achieve that goal. The MiG-29 was originally intended to be fed with very high octane fuel for maximum performance, and if the engine burned out, so be it. But this philosophy doesn't work in the cost-conscious post-cold war era. I think the MiG-29's in indian AF service has forced the Russians to adopt to the new environment, and the MiG-29's produced today are far better in quality with longer airframe lifespan than their predessors.

The Burmese are very fortunate that they're buying the MiG today, after the Indians already dealed with the numerous problems and forced the Russians to fix them. IMO the MiG-29 platform today has probably reached the same maturity level as the F-16 C/D. The J-10 is not there yet (only been in service for 5-6 years!), but will be soon.

Originally Posted by rhino123

I am wondering if the arm embargo was finally lifted, what would China's first purchase be? Helicopters, A400M military transport? or maybe even sub-system like the carrier's catapults and things like that. It would definitely improve and speed up her R&D sector once China had excess to the modern western equipments.

It's not likely that the EU would lift the arms embargo. Here's a good article to read and understand their current "world view":
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europ...st-in-disarray

The EU arms embargo take the following into consideration:

The code prohibits a sale where:
# it would violate international commitments,
# there is a "clear risk" that the export might be used for internal repression,
# the export could provoke or prolong armed conflict or aggravate existing tensions,
# there is a "clear risk" that the arms would be used aggressively against another country or to assert a territorial claim.

The code calls for special caution where:
# serious violations of human rights have been established,
# the weapons might be used against EU allies and friends,
# there is a risk of unintended transfer of technology or the use of reverse engineering.

The "clear risk" on using arms to aggressively asset territorial claim is one hurdle that's not likely to pass. At best, China might be able to get EU to re-define its embargo terms on what's included/excluded.

On the other hand, the embargo also forces China to spend more resources on its own R&D, which in the long run might be far better than adopting the mentality of importing everything from abroad as "better" -- Taiwan is a good example of this mentality.