Chinese purchase of Su-35

SinoSoldier said:

Latest rumors are quite the bombshell:
- Chinese pilots are unsatisfied with the Su-35's performance and hence the entire deal might fall through (rumor is that they are opting for accelerated J-16 deployment instead)

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Doubt it. The Chinese must have had their hands on the plane and tested fully before they signed the contract. It's highly unlikely that they drop the contract now barring unforeseen circumstances, if there is a contract in place at all that is.

What is your source of these rumors? How credible are they?

weig2000 said:

Doubt it. The Chinese must have had their hands on the plane and tested fully before they signed the contract. It's highly unlikely that they drop the contract now barring unforeseen circumstances, if there is a contract in place at all that is.

What is your source of these rumors? How credible are they?

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They are from a couple of Weibo accounts that have generally good credibility in the past.

If credible, then it's likely that the test pilots found their initial test aircraft to be satisfactory but not the ones slated for delivery to the Chinese.

I thought the Russian report was that no contract was signed. What was probably signed was a MOU, with the final contract depending on test flight results which seems like did not go well.

Hyperwarp said:

You are correct. Since it is an export version it should be Su-35SK.

Side note: Whats disappointing is the lack of news on the J-11D. J-11B is a decent aircraft but I am not sure how it will fair against latest F/A-18E/F (let alone the F-22). J-11D should have filled that gap but it is still a no show. Su-35 should be able to fill that gap.

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Just saw this post.

Remember J-11D only made its maiden flight a year ago.

It should be expected that we would hear no major news of its development after only slight over a year -- what is expected should be news of additional prototoypes making flights (and we did hear that).


OTOH if we have no news of J-11D developments in another year and a half, then that may be a reason to be a little bit concerned. But considering how recent it is, the current news we have of J-11D is consistent with expectations.

I'd still say that we wait till the end of the year before drawing further conclusions.

siegecrossbow said:

I'd still say that we wait till the end of the year before drawing further conclusions.

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For what, J-11D or the Su-35 purchase?

For J-11D, I think if we haven't heard any other news of it by October 2017 then we can start to wonder a little bit. Given the development of past aircraft like J-16 and J-10B in previous years and the news and pictures we've had for them at that time, the news we've had so far for J-11D's development is entirely consistent with expectations.
More importantly, it is also quite normal for us to have less news for SAC developments than at CAC, and it's also normal for there to be an initial peak of news in the first year or so of a new "variant" aircraft making its first flight (and initial few prototypes) and then for us to have little news for the next year or so as more extensive testing is carried out.
So for J-11D, I'd give it until October next year until any big calls are made towards its development progress.

For Su-35, I'd say just keep waiting. Rumours and news seem to be constantly popping up about what's supposedly happening. If it's real, then we'll see it in Chinese colours eventually and scores can be settled then with the benefit of hindsight.

siegecrossbow said:

I'd still say that we wait till the end of the year before drawing further conclusions.

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If China is to receive first 4 Su-35 (SK) by the end of this year (rumors says 10 ~ 20 Dec), they are keeping everything too secret but the rumors. Up to now, we haven't seen a single Su-35 under PLAAF skin in China or in Russia. My stance still not change, I only believe it when I see it.

Just checked the rumor sinosoldier bring up, it seems from grassroot whom we've heard from a lot and a moderator of CJDBY. Usually I would dismiss something this radical made up non sense but these two do have some credibility.

kriss said:

Just checked the rumor sinosoldier bring up, it seems from grassroot whom we've heard from a lot and a moderator of CJDBY. Usually I would dismiss something this radical made up non sense but these two do have some credibility.

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interesting.

The Su-35 saga still manages to surprise after all these years. I wonder how these rumours will pan out.

Can we change the title on this thread to add a "confirmation" (word) once it is definitively and conclusively "confirmed" that the PLAAF has taken delivery of Su-35 of any variant; best if there are photo showing Su-35 painted with the PLAAF roundel?

I am just tired to constantly seeing new posting on this thread, and thinking that some definitive/conclusive development has finally taken place; otherwise, I just want to stay clear of this (now 192 pages) thread.

Personally, I enjoy seeing photos of military equipment (Su-35 included of course), as well as reading about rumours surrounding them. However too much of a good thing (rumours) can dull the flavours.