This was a bit surprising to me. I'm guessing the transfer to Guizhou might have gone smoothly .
J-10 Thread IV
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
This was a bit surprising to me. I'm guessing the transfer to Guizhou might have gone smoothly .
China should really dedicate an export-import bank to manage these kinds of arms deals where the SOEs get paid in cash by the bank and the bank deals with the "unorthodox payment" from the purchaser.
If we are talking countries that insist on paying with commodities instead of cash, then the obvious candidate would be Iran, as well as maybe Venezuela.
Nigeria, which is oil rich and already operating JF-17s, is another possibility, even though J-10s might be overkill in their neighborhood.
There are other possibilities like Bangladesh, Burma and Cambodia, which all operate Chinese aircraft as is, as well. However, relations with Beijing has been complicated as of late for these Asian countries, with the exception of Cambodia, which just received some type 056 frigates from Beijing. Though the thing about Cambodia is that they don't have much, if any experience operating fighters, so inducting something like the J-10 into service would be challenging.
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Anyhow, Iran is supposedly due to receive Su-35s from Russia, and both the KSA and UAE would've pushed back hard diplomatically against a Chinese sale of J-10s to Iran. So that probably takes them off the shortlist.
However, does anyone know how Egypt is financing the purchase of its J-10s?
IIRC, the Egyptian military has been a beneficiary of Saudi largess in the past, so there's a possibility that the Saudis are involved in the financing of the Egyptian purchase of J-10s as an incentive for AVIC to defer or delay the sale of J-10s to Iran. This is obviously pure speculation, but it would align with their playbook
Isn't BRICS already working on a payment system using commodities and materials instead of currency?
Don't like to dive too deep into Iran, but KSA and UAE weren't decisively against Su-35s supplies. Their importance for Russia isn't lower than for China.
J-10, especially if can be manufactured with 117s engines, is an excellent couple to that aircraft.
And overall, it's rather ironic, but making Hi/Lo export pairs between Ru/Cn mixes is easier than between Russian and Chinese aircraft themselves.
That's a fair point. Though, one thing to keep in mind is that Russia was in desperate need of Iranian OWA drones, and the Saudis and Emiratis may have realized that it'd be futile to try to change Russia's mind given the circumstances.
Is mating the J-10 with an izdeliye 117 turbofan (or WS-15 turbofan or something else along those general lines) something that has been considered or might actually happen?
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From the looks of this , it seems like both the Venezuelans and Cambodians are interested in the J-10CE.
interesting, however looking at an aircraft at an airshow does not automatically mean it will be purchased.
Even more, most rumours say, the second not yet known customer is from Africa too.
Depending on the ability to make payment or showing interest it can either be considered the second or the first actually.
Absolutely! As I said: interested.
Though, with such official sources, which tend to exercise discretion in what is and isn't explicitly communicated given political considerations, it can at times be helpful to read between the lines.
What official foreign delegations are and aren't photographed, as well as the size and composition of official foreign delegations may imply the level of interest.
For example, Cambodia's delegation appears to be led by a three star general, while Venezuela's delegation consisted of three two star generals. That's a bit more weight than an interested party's Beijing based air attache showing up.
Ability to make payment has probably been the biggest determinant in past years, but exceptions might be emerging.
The US has been handing out billions of dollars worth of military aid annually for decades, especially to Israel and Egypt. China doesn't quite have that kind of relationship with any foreign nation these days, not even Pakistan.
However, China seems to be getting more generous with handing out toys to its reliable "little brothers" on a case by case basis: Cambodia is reportedly receiving, if not have already received two 056 light frigates as a part of a deal granting the PLAN "privileged access" to Ream Naval Base.
Not sure what sort of incentives will be needed to convince Beijing to donate a squadron of J-10s to Cambodia or any other country, but such a deal should be plausible at this point.
There's been chatter about Sudan buying J-10s for years, and it would make sense as they've operated a variety of Chinese airframes for decades. Everything from the Q-5 to the J-7 to the FTC-2000 to the CH-4.
However, Sudan has been in a state of civil war for a couple of years now, so they may not be in the best position to acquire, never mind induct something as expensive and sophisticated as the J-10CE. Interestingly, one of Sudan's two warring factions has been receiving Egyptian air support, so we might see J-10s flying sorties over Sudan soon enough . . .
Another possibility that has been mentioned on occasion is Ethiopia, which is now a little more likely to occur thanks to Trump's cuts on foreign aid. Ethiopia has apparently been getting over a billion dollars annually from the US in recent years, and if that's gone for good, then DC is going to have a harder time discouraging Addis Ababa from buying Beijing's hardware.
