If the J-35AE is a thing, and semi-credible leakers suggest it has been built, then an export customer possibly has already signed up for non-insignificant numbers of these fighters.
I am not against exporting. Just tempering this excitement. Export versions have a meaningful enough separation in many ways including performance and capability otherwise they wouldn't exist. Not only does the US nearly always do this, so did the Soviets and so do the Russians. The French used to when they offered leading edge equipment. China wouldn't be any different.
This does not have anything to do with incorporation, use, and how custom made a platform is. All that is only semi-related to the above.
You can have a well integrated weapons system imported and put to great use. One that was custom developed to suit your needs. It can perform perfectly well and then some... but it could also still be FAR inferior to the domestic version. I'm not saying that's the case, simply pointing out the validity of that logic.
As for the J-35AE being an export version somehow meaning China is comfortable exporting this level of equipment. Please slow down. It doesn't mean the AE has the same materials, full radar capability, access to all the same software and ECM/ESM. It might. It might not.
Even if it's a downgraded version, it is going to be better than a Su-57. On this I'm confident. At some point, dancing around impressively in the sky is just not the direction air combat has gone in. China agreed with the US air combat doctrine prevailing over the cold war era understanding of air combat. It's abundantly clear that China has taken it two steps further now with what it's revealed as the direction of 6th gen.
I am not against exporting. Just tempering this excitement. Export versions have a meaningful enough separation in many ways including performance and capability otherwise they wouldn't exist. Not only does the US nearly always do this, so did the Soviets and so do the Russians. The French used to when they offered leading edge equipment. China wouldn't be any different.
This does not have anything to do with incorporation, use, and how custom made a platform is. All that is only semi-related to the above.
You can have a well integrated weapons system imported and put to great use. One that was custom developed to suit your needs. It can perform perfectly well and then some... but it could also still be FAR inferior to the domestic version. I'm not saying that's the case, simply pointing out the validity of that logic.
As for the J-35AE being an export version somehow meaning China is comfortable exporting this level of equipment. Please slow down. It doesn't mean the AE has the same materials, full radar capability, access to all the same software and ECM/ESM. It might. It might not.
Even if it's a downgraded version, it is going to be better than a Su-57. On this I'm confident. At some point, dancing around impressively in the sky is just not the direction air combat has gone in. China agreed with the US air combat doctrine prevailing over the cold war era understanding of air combat. It's abundantly clear that China has taken it two steps further now with what it's revealed as the direction of 6th gen.