The Su-57 will probably be the closest facsimile to the F-22 for training the Chinese will be able to get once the Izdeliye 30 engines become available.
I think that in itself has some value. Then there is access not only to the engines but also to the airframe. Which is more advanced than the J-20's.
I think arguably the Su-57 has the most advanced airframe in any production fighter today. Then there is access to the weapons available for the Su-57 which will be quite extensive. At least once those are developed. The list is quite impressive. Assuming the Russians do all of them. Which I would not be surprised.
No it is not as simple as copying the look of the airframe. There is also the software to control all those movable surfaces. If it was just the overall shape the Russians themselves would have started production of the Su-57 years ago. Also, the Russians will export the Su-57. If you look at the customers for the Su-30 and extrapolate that as a possible list of Su-57 buyers a lot of them will be stationed on China's borders. Just like the F-35. You can bet that whoever does not get the F-35 will get the Su-57.
Vietnam, for example, is quite likely to be one of the purchasers. As a Russian weapons client for decades.
In fact I would not be surprised if even traditional US weapons clients might go Russian because the US has no twin engine stealth fighter available for sale. Heck, I would not be surprised to see South Korea buy it.
You have to think about it this way. China exports a lot of things to Russia. While right now Russia has only limited exports to China, mostly energy, so what will they purchase to have a trade balance? Food? There are other alternatives for that and food is relatively cheap. So purchasing aircraft makes sense. Any aircraft which they purchase from Russia is one less aircraft they have to manufacture in China at a time their stealth aircraft production will still be ramping up. It is not in China's interests to have the Russians keep a running tab on them and as time passes the US keeps piling on more sanctions on Russia so they will buy more and more from China. Just recently the main Russian banks connected themselves to the Chinese electronic bank transfers system and the Russians have started to keep Yuan as a reserve currency. This means their economies will become more interlinked.
Already the Russian naval sector is looking at Chinese engines. Which is something you wouldn't dream of even a decade ago.
I think that in itself has some value. Then there is access not only to the engines but also to the airframe. Which is more advanced than the J-20's.
I think arguably the Su-57 has the most advanced airframe in any production fighter today. Then there is access to the weapons available for the Su-57 which will be quite extensive. At least once those are developed. The list is quite impressive. Assuming the Russians do all of them. Which I would not be surprised.
No it is not as simple as copying the look of the airframe. There is also the software to control all those movable surfaces. If it was just the overall shape the Russians themselves would have started production of the Su-57 years ago. Also, the Russians will export the Su-57. If you look at the customers for the Su-30 and extrapolate that as a possible list of Su-57 buyers a lot of them will be stationed on China's borders. Just like the F-35. You can bet that whoever does not get the F-35 will get the Su-57.
Vietnam, for example, is quite likely to be one of the purchasers. As a Russian weapons client for decades.
In fact I would not be surprised if even traditional US weapons clients might go Russian because the US has no twin engine stealth fighter available for sale. Heck, I would not be surprised to see South Korea buy it.
You have to think about it this way. China exports a lot of things to Russia. While right now Russia has only limited exports to China, mostly energy, so what will they purchase to have a trade balance? Food? There are other alternatives for that and food is relatively cheap. So purchasing aircraft makes sense. Any aircraft which they purchase from Russia is one less aircraft they have to manufacture in China at a time their stealth aircraft production will still be ramping up. It is not in China's interests to have the Russians keep a running tab on them and as time passes the US keeps piling on more sanctions on Russia so they will buy more and more from China. Just recently the main Russian banks connected themselves to the Chinese electronic bank transfers system and the Russians have started to keep Yuan as a reserve currency. This means their economies will become more interlinked.
Already the Russian naval sector is looking at Chinese engines. Which is something you wouldn't dream of even a decade ago.
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