Chinese purchase of Su-35

Franticfrank said:

The J10 and J11 are still quality platforms in my opinion. Do the Chinese really need the SU35 with the J20 in the pipeline? Would the SU35 be able to compete with the new western 5th gen fighters?

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J-20 won't enter service until 2017-2019 (thats assuming all goes well). This is the most complex & expensive A/C PRC is going to field. How long until it reaches IoC let alone FoC? J-20 is something long term. They need something to fill the gap. J-10A/10B alone cannot do that. If the rumors are true about the J-11B being really is sh!++y and if SAC is unable to deliver better platform in the short term, PRC will have to look for alternatives.

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. If the rumors are true about the J-11B being really is sh!++y

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Franticfrank said:

Ok good point - I was unaware of how bad the J-11B is! Perhaps a few JF17s might do the trick. But as a stopgap, the SU35 might be good choice.

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paintgun said:

since the arrival of J-20, everything else looks shitty...

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Hyperwarp said:

its not the J-20 that makes the J-11B look sh!++y. J-20 still at a very early stage. J-20 doesn't apply to this situation. Even the F-15 looks shi++y compared to the the F-22. I was referring to the J-10A Vs J-11B engagements and the rumors regarding the improvements of the J-11B over the J-11A not materializing. Off-course they are just rumors but... still....

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China and Russia are negotiating contracts regarding the acquisition of Russian Su-35 fighter jets, according to deputy director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, the Global Times reported Wednesday.The contract mainly focuses on the number of jets that China can purchase, the nation would preferably acquire in between 48 and 50 of them, whereas Russian concerns lie more with the risk of leaked expertise secrets.

In the long run, Russia may resume its supply of air defense arms including that of S-400s to China. Moreover, China may also become the first overseas buyer of the Ilyushin Il-476, a multi-purpose four-engine strategic airlifter designed by the Ilyushin design bureau. If the two countries continue the terms and conditions in their contract of 34 Ilyushin Il-76s and four Ilyushin Il-78s, which was inked in 2005, the amount of money involved will reach billions of U.S. dollars.

Analysts believe that China's rise as a global power has provided Russia with new opportunitiesn the fields of military and political cooperation between the two countries.

Russia took up a second spot for world arms sales in 2011, according to the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) think tank. The nation's annual arms exports doubled over the past six years, from US$6 billion in 2005 to over US$13 billion in 2011, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in July.

In 2011, Russia sold nearly US$2 billion worth of weapons to China, accounting for 15 percent of Russia's total arms exports.

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