Chinese purchase of Su-35

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Russia inks contract with China on Su-35 deliveries

November 19, 8:47 UTC+3 MOSCOW
Thus, China has officially become the first foreign contractor of the Su-35 aircraft

MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. Russia and China have inked a contract on purchases of 24 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, with an estimated sum of the deal topping $2bln, the Russian daily Kommersant said on Thursday citing defense sources.

"The protracted talks on Su-35 deliveries to China have ended," Director General of the Russian high-technology state corporation Rostec Sergey Chemezov told the daily. "We have signed the contract."

"China has officially become the first foreign contractor of the Su-35 aircraft. The contract has no precedents in the history of military aircraft deliveries," he said.

Until the deal, Russia was the only country whose Air Force is equipped with Su-35 fighter jets (NATO reporting name Flanker-E).

Russian aircraft factory to build 24 Su-35 fighters for Chinese Air Force
The Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association in Russia’s Far East, which is part of Sukhoi Company, Russia’s largest aircraft manufacturer, will produce 24 Su-35 fighters for the Chinese Air Force, a high-ranking official in the Khabarovsk Territory government told TASS on Thursday.

"Closed talks between representatives of China and Russia were held on Sunday in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. These negotiations were in progress for several years, the Chinese military was interested in Su-35 fighters and the possibility of putting them into service in China. The contract was concluded on purchasing 24 Su-35 fighters," the source said, adding that this was the first foreign customer of the 4++ generation aircraft.

The government’s press service reported that Governor of Khabarovsk Territory Vyacheslav Shport would comment on Thursday on the order to be fulfilled by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association.

The cost of one Su-35 fighter is estimated at $83-85 million, which means that the total value of the contract may reach $2 billion.

The Su-35 is a long-range 4++ generation fighter capable of flying a speed up to 2,500 kilometers per hour. Its flying range is 3,400 kilometers.

Deino said:

Why not ?? The Su-35 is surely not worse than the J-11B. If the J-11D and J-16 will match the Su-35 in terms of avionics, weapons, maneuverability is still not clear and esp. the TVC is a new capability woth to explore.

If only 24 aircraft in the big-picture are a dramatic change and plus of new capabilities is indeed questionable. For me it generally is most of all a political deal and as such only a small part of a much larger scale of the Sino-Russian strategic relations.

Deino

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Totally agree that this would be first and foremost a political deal if it does go ahead.

Although saying that, I think the PLAAF would still want to get the most use out of these fighters that they could.

As such, I think the Russians would have to make significant and unusually concessions to make this deal worthwhile for China.

The biggest one would not, actually be engines, but rather on radar and avionics.

In this day and age, network centric warfare and communication and co-ordination are key. That means that the Su35s would be of little use to the PLA if they cannot network with all the other assets the PLA is developing and fielding.

Given the small size of the order, I think the PLA would also not be at all keen about having to build up a separate weapons stockpile just to support those Su35s.

That means the Russians either have to give China the Su35's radar source codes, so China would integrate them with the rest of their assets, but also integrate Chinese weapons. Or, if they are unwilling to do that, the Chinese would probably prefer they deliver the Su35s without radar and avionics so the Chinese could install their own kit.

With regards to engines, not only would the Russians need to sell the Su35 with the best engine options available, they would likely also need to make those engines available to China by themselves, without tying them to further Su35 sales. That would be both a concession to China, and a carrot for Russia in that they can expect further major engine sales to help boost their economy.

Thus, rather than expect China to buy loads of weapons to supplement the deal for the Su35s, China would probably much rather spend that money buying more 117 engines, maybe even set up a licensing agreement to make additional ones in China, and pretty much use the 117 as the new standard engines for its new built Flankers, and maybe J20 as well.

Does it mean finally China "give up" of WS-15 engine development? really sad if it is the case.
I'd like to see indigenous engines are fitted on all flankers and J-20, perhaps a bit longer, but heyyy China is not at war and has already very advanced and strong air force.

Dolcevita said:

Did china really sign contract for su-35? can someone corroborate from Chinese source? This article claims that the contract has been signed.

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As it became known to Kommersant, Russia and People's Republic of China (PRC) signed the largest contract for the purchase of 24 aircraft multi-role fighters Su-35. The deal is estimated to be no less than $ 2 billion. Chinese military thus became the first foreign customers of these aircraft: prior to this, their only exploited the Russian air force.

That Moscow and Beijing drew up a deal for the supply of Su-35 fighter jets, Kommersant reported the Director General of State Corporation "Rustech" Sergey Chemezov: "Long talks on delivery of Su-35 in China are completed, we signed a contract." Sources of Kommersant in the sphere of military-technical cooperation argue that under the terms of the agreement, the Chinese AIR FORCE will receive 24 cars with a total value of about $ 2 billion (about $ 83 million per unit). "China officially became the first foreign customer of the Su-35, is unprecedented in the history of contract deliveries of military aircraft," one of the interlocutors stressed "

+ English source

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antiterror13 said:

Does it mean finally China "give up" of WS-15 engine development? really sad if it is the case.
I'd like to see indigenous engines are fitted on all flankers and J-20, perhaps a bit longer, but heyyy China is not at war and has already very advanced and strong air force.

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Not at all.

WS15 is still top priority, but may not be easy to retrofit to Flankers and J10s when ready.

117 should serve as a solid engine upgrade option for all Chinese Flankers, and maybe J10s as well in the short to medium term, allowing China to focus on a more technically challenging WS10A follow on engine without having to be under too much time pressure.

Basically, the 117 should buy China another 10, 15 years before they need to serious consider an engine upgrade for the J11s and J10s when allowing for the kind of weight gain that typically happens as fighter designs mature and newer toys and developments are retrofitted in as they become available.

SinoSoldier said:

But whether aerodynamic performance is something sufficiently important to pursue and spend money on is unknown.

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to understand the advances it brings even over the Su-30MKIs/Su-30SM/Su-30MS is basically it will fly faster and longer distances at those speeds than a regular J-11 or Su-30, it means if a enemy fighter launches a missile at it it has higher probability of escaping an enemy`s missile, add the Thrust vectoring nozzles and it means it can dodge the missiles at higher speeds, that advantage means than even a F-22 needs to kill it at longer ranges but it is fast enough to have higher odds than a J-11 to live and with a 400 km range of detection it means it knows the enemy is there sooner and it can approach it quicker reducing the ability of any 4th generation fighter to escape.

SinoSoldier said:

Likely not.

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It does all the flankers made by China are equivalent to the Su-33/Su-30MKK performance wise with avionics and weapons similar to F-15s such as the F-15E or F-15k at best.
The Su-35 is closer to the Eurofighter and Rafale in aerodynamic performance and avionics in the league of the first Rafale versions

Franklin said:

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Maybe they don't have the translated article for this already?

From what I've read on Chinese forums, the deal certainly looks legit. Both Russia and China made major concessions to make this "miracle" happen.

Could China have been impressed with Flanker performance in Syria this is why they finalised the deal ?

But with J20 and J31 , Su35 don't make sense even for engine sake ???

asif iqbal said:

Could China have been impressed with Flanker performance in Syria this is why they finalised the deal ?

But with J20 and J31 , Su35 don't make sense even for engine sake ???

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Unlikely.

For one, it was Su30s that were deployed, but Su35s. The Russian Flankers in Syria were also flying mostly CAP missions rather than strike, so didn't really do all that much to be honest.

For another, ISIS is hardly the kind of opponents reputations are made against.

Bombing them is pretty much target practice with living target dummies as far as difficulty and risks are concerned. The biggest danger to aircraft would be mechanical failure and accidents rather than enemy action.

This deal was mostly political, not practical. Saying that, the PLAAF would obviously have tried to make the most of this situation and ask for concessions to make the Su35 deal as useful as possible for themselves.