Chinese purchase of Su-35

siegecrossbow said:

Confirmed at this point.

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Not really; until we get or an update on Sukhoi's website or the air forces themelves, the deal is still up in the air.

Gloire_bb said:

Positioning in a2a combat w/o prohibitive fuel loss(at the same time preserving your own for opportunities or emergency), energy superiority, forcing enemy to spend more fuel just to engage...

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If anything, supercruise requires from the aircraft more fuel.

What about J11D it's top end stuff ?

With decades of development on the Flanker by Chinese aviation I am totally confused as to why China would want this unit

SinoSoldier said:

If anything, supercruise requires from the aircraft more fuel.

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More than using afterburner? No.

tidalwave said:

TVC allows a plane do abrupt., sharp angle turn. The plane can slow down and then do a sudden turn when the missile is almost near it. The momentum of missile will cause it to dash past and miss the target.

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We don't live in 1960s anymore. Modern IR missiles can easily pull 30g and more maneuvers.

TVC is nice in air shows but in combat more or less useless... killed by the helmet mounted displays & DAS like systems.

asif iqbal said:

What about J11D it's top end stuff ?

With decades of development on the Flanker by Chinese aviation I am totally confused as to why China would want this unit

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I highly doubt that the Chinese "want" the Su-35 in the same manner as it does for the 117S engine or whatnot. In fact, the continued development of J-11D/J-16, etc, suggests that this deal isn't about a capability gap.

asif iqbal said:

What about J11D it's top end stuff ?

With decades of development on the Flanker by Chinese aviation I am totally confused as to why China would want this unit

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J-11D is not as good? I can guarantee that if JF-17 or J-10 are going against MiG-35 in a competition Russians are going to say "Chinese bought fighters from us why would you buy their product?".

Gloire_bb said:

More than using afterburner? No.

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Unless you are implying that fighters engage in A2A combat at cruise speeds, the ability of an aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds without reheat is of dubious value.

Broccoli said:

J-11D is not as good?

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J-11D should be even more so; it features an AESA radar, composites, RAM, new ECM/EW suites, etc. Once again, if the Chinese were doing this to make up for a lack in capability, they would have purchased far more than 24.

SinoSoldier said:

Unless you are implying that fighters engage in A2A combat at cruise speeds, the ability of an aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds without reheat is of dubious value.

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They actually are.
Going high supersonic(as well as doing radical maneuvering) is heavily restricted with drop tanks, you've to drop them. Also, afterburner eats fuel extremely fast, I mean literally minutes, and yoi're already near line of no return. If your enemy(which hadn't afterburned, did it to lesser degree) will catch you at this moment - consider yourself screwed.
It's extreme oversimplification, but nevertheless it's how it is for medium range missile fight.

Note, it's even for pure fight. At higher level(intercept windows at extended ranges etc) it's even more important.