This image, posted on the Chinese website Weibo, shows what appears to be a Chinese Su-27 Flanker derivative very similar to
The picture coincides with rumors that a new Chinese fighter type flew recently but we have no way to authenticate the image at this time.
There is no prior indication that Russia has licensed Russian aircraft designer Sukhoi’s Su-34 fighter-bomber to China, but this has not stopped China from building its own Sukhoi clones before. Currently China has multiple indigenous Su-27 Flanker derivatives in production,
, a Su-27 knock-0ff and the carrier capable
, a copy of the Su-33 carrier-borne fighter.
It is widely understood that
, from which the J-15 was directly modeled. China also flies Russian-built and officially licensed versions of the Su-27 as well.....
If this photo is indeed legitimate, this aircraft does look like a close copy of the Su-34. Key features are present including its platypus nose which is optimized for side-by-side seating and broad radar aperture. A “stinger” style tail boom is also present, just as it is on the Su-34, along with canard fore-planes. Although, in this case, it looks like these fore-planes may be mated to the aircraft’s wing via a large leading-edge root extension plate. This is something that does not exist on Russia’s Su-34s. This could be a feature installed just for initial test flights, or it could be a unique Chinese feature.
The idea that China may be developing a Su-34 knock-off is intriguing and it does fit their anti-access, area denial strategy, one in which short-ranged fighters have less utility than long-ranged ones. Its side-by-side crew layout is ideal for longer missions and its large radar aperture is useful for installing a powerful electronically scanned radar array with long-range air-to-air search and track capabilities and high resolution air-to-ground modes for attacking surface targets in littoral environments.
This would give China a particularly well suited weapon for anti-ship missions and for long-range anti-aircraft operations. In particular, attacks on airborne warning and control, tanker and other support aircraft may be possible by lobbing long-range anti-radiation and anti-aircraft missiles at these targets. The same can be said for the anti-ship role, with the type known to be able to
and
A Chinese Su-34 would be an ideal weapon system to be deployed to its burgeoning
and have the sensor suite capability of surveying those areas and targeting ships at range if need be.
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