I don't actually think it's so unlikely for PLAAF and China to acquire some Su-57s. It is a remarkably different aircraft to J-20 and probably has some of its own unique strengths, supermaneuverability being an undeniably obvious one. On that point it can easily simulate F-22 performance with TVC and if unloaded for supercruise.
A large fleet of Su-57 will be unaffordable and come at the cost of more J-20s or whatever. But since the philosophy of the Su-57 is so different to the J-20's and the Russian approach to 5th gen may have its own worthwhile lessons/insights, it could also mean a modern Su-35 small, special task squadron. There is a some flexibility here and it's always good to determine exactly where the Russian designs are performing at. Strengths can be learned and adapted to future designs e.g. TVC in Su-35 to compare against domestic TVC programs like the J-10's TVC mod. Meanwhile if it's more of a dud than expected, then there are insights into Russia's performance in this field and maybe a better way to understand where India's future Su-57 imports will be performing at.
The Americans acquired and operated enemy and allied weapons for all sorts of evaluation and intel programs since the second world war. If Russia offers China the Su-57, China will more likely buy than not. The question is how many units and how effective does China want to make this fleet in terms of how deeply invested in weapons and parts they want to be. Both are friendly and not threatening one another so Russia may even offer a decent enough deal with a smaller order of something similar to Su-35 numbers - 24.
A large fleet of Su-57 will be unaffordable and come at the cost of more J-20s or whatever. But since the philosophy of the Su-57 is so different to the J-20's and the Russian approach to 5th gen may have its own worthwhile lessons/insights, it could also mean a modern Su-35 small, special task squadron. There is a some flexibility here and it's always good to determine exactly where the Russian designs are performing at. Strengths can be learned and adapted to future designs e.g. TVC in Su-35 to compare against domestic TVC programs like the J-10's TVC mod. Meanwhile if it's more of a dud than expected, then there are insights into Russia's performance in this field and maybe a better way to understand where India's future Su-57 imports will be performing at.
The Americans acquired and operated enemy and allied weapons for all sorts of evaluation and intel programs since the second world war. If Russia offers China the Su-57, China will more likely buy than not. The question is how many units and how effective does China want to make this fleet in terms of how deeply invested in weapons and parts they want to be. Both are friendly and not threatening one another so Russia may even offer a decent enough deal with a smaller order of something similar to Su-35 numbers - 24.
