CHINESE INTEREST IN Su-33
Chinese interest in aircraft carriers has entered an active phase, and a Chinese delegation visited MAKS'2005 to carefully study all the necessary technologies. A presentation of the Su-33 and Su- 27KUB (Su-33UB) shipborne fighters was specially arranged for the Chinese party, including a late-evening Su-27KUB demonstration flight during the show. The Su27KUB, which was not included in the official list of aircraft on display, was only present at MAKS for half a day. It was brought from Saki, Ukraine, where it is being tested, specifically for the purpose of being presented to the Chinese delegation.
At the beginning of August, before the MAKS exhibition, a Chinese delegation visited St Petersburg, where it listened to presentations by representatives of the Nevskoye PKB ship design bureau, the designer of Russian aircraft carriers, as well as to other companies cooperating with Nevskoye PKB. The Chinese also examined aircraft carrier equipment, including automatic landing systems and arresting devices. The Chinese probably visited also the Ukrainian shipyard in Mykolayiv, which has built all Soviet aircraft carries, including the Admiral Kuznetsov and Varyag.
The Russians have submitted a three-stage proposal with various dates of delivery for selling Su-33 shipborne fighters:
- present version of Su-33 as used by the Russian Navy, armed only with air-to-air missiles and intended for fleet air defence;
- modernised Su-33M version with avionics and weapons similar to that of Su-30MK2 shore-based fighters operated by the Chinese Navy, including Kh-31A antiship missiles;
- future advanced version of multirole shipborne fighter similar to the shore-based Su-35 fighter presently under development.
For the time being, the two-seat shipborne Su-27KUB is considered by the Chinese as a training aircraft only.
Copyright Aerospace Media Publishing Autumn 2005
interesting... so they are going for the SU-33M.... i wonder if it will have TVC:china:
it did say it's going to be like the Su-30MK2, maybe thats so because PLAAF pilots already know how to fly them easily instead of converting to a whole new plane