Why didn't China buy the MiG-29?

coolieno99 said:

The reason why the Mig-15 performed poorly during the Korean War has nothing to do with the mechanical performance of the plane itself(actually the Mig-15 was the superior plane). Nor due to better trained U.S. pilots. The key difference was that the U.S. F-86 fighter was equipped with an automated targetting fire-control radar, and the Russian Mig-15 fighter did not. The fire-control radar enable the pilot to place the shots ahead of a evading/turning Mig-15 with accuracy. The Mig-15 used a crude optical sight and the pilot has to manually adjust it during combat to determine the correct range. It's very clumsy system, and gave poor results.
The F-86 fire control radar was in the downward-curled bulge located on top of the frontal intake.

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On top of that, the F-86 were piloted by veterans, most having experience in World War II. Most of the MiG-15 pilots were raw recruits, but some of the aircraft piloted by Soviet pilots who had experience in World War II did do very well apparently.

The Mig-29 is a mediocre plane, but the Mig-35 is a big improvement. Mainly from the installation of Phazotron Zhuk-AE AESA radar, and 2 IRSTs (mounted above and below the plane).

think it's easy to tell:

1.In the conflict with vietnam in the south-sea 1980s,naval needs air support and CAP.but plaaf and planaf said they can't，because q5/h5/j6/j7/j8 can not fly so far,and h6 can fly there but with no escort while vietnam's mig-23 and su-22 can reach there easily and give deadly fire power. Although they won the battle,requirements of long range air support are liftted to highest priority. To fit these requirements we now see su-27s in Zhanjiang and J-8ii in Hainan island .

Su-27's long leg is the first reason.

2. J-10 project,the son of dead J-9 project,Institute 611's savior and only hope that just defeated Institue 601's J-13 project,began in 1986. Think of the large cut of military industry that time, Y-10(4 engine airliner),former Y-9(6 or 4 engine airlifter),YuanHong(6 or 4 engine strategic bomber),Q-6(attacker with VG wing),former J-11,J-13(chinese copy of F-16) and a STOL fighter project were all cancelled. As there are limited funds,importing mig-29 means threat to J-10,and they will and they must defend for their own child.(this means most of the funds will given to the institue 611 and factory CAC when other factory/institute will have to build civil products to survive)

3.J-8II,because of the TAM affairs 1989,Peace Pearl project suspent and then stopped. That time,J-13 was defeated by J-10,Institute 601 and SAC had no new peoject at all and thus no funds no money,this was too terrible. but luckly plaaf and planaf needs new war birds,and J-8ii is the only choice availible except foreign vendor's. Mig is a threat but Su not. So voice said "with new avionics and Python-3 and Aspide,J-8ii has chance to challenge F-16 and Mig-29".

The two largest Institute/Factory are against Mig-29,another reason.

4.After test flights,Su-27 is better than Mig-29,and the price is reasonable. China tested Mirage2000 at 1980's，and seriously wanted import and build them,but cancelled because too high price.Same thing happend to Tornado.
Now,a cheaper but stronger choice is on the table,why turn to another.
The last reason.

Mig-35. The top IRST is located in front of the windshield. The bottom IRST is mounted underneath the engine enclosure.

baldo said:

think it's easy to tell:

The two largest Institute/Factory are against Mig-29.

Now,a cheaper but stronger choice is on the table,why turn to another.
The last reason.

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Sum it all up and the answer is...after all the reviews, they simply did not want to.

The Mig-29 is the equivalent of J-10, so there's no need to buy them.

Ryz05 said:

The Mig-29 is the equivalent of J-10, so there's no need to buy them.

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And the J-10 is more flexible, able to deliver precision guided munitions of Chinese manufacture.

Pointblank said:

Why bother why they have the J-10?

Another issue with the MiG-29 series is the engines. The Klimov RD-33 series does not have as good thrust to weight ratio in comparison to Western engines, and the engine is at least a generation behind in technology. The engine has a short life before a major overhaul is required (500 hours), in comparison to say, the General Electric F404, which has a service life of 1,000 flight hours before a trip to the shop and averages 6,500 hours between in-flight events. The RD-33 also is less fuel efficient compared to the thrust provided, which works against the MiG-29's low fuel capacity, which leaves a short range for the MiG-29.

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good point, then maybe they should build their own version of the SU-37, i herd that is a very good jet that can beat the F-15 anytime. and it is with out a doubt better than the J-10.

coolieno99 said:

Mig-35. The top IRST is located in front of the windshield. The bottom IRST is mounted underneath the engine enclosure.

[qimg]http://www.oborona.ru/objectdata/UserDefinedUnitImpl/3006690/3006692.jpg[/qimg]

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One question... Why still carrying AA-10 when you have AA-12? What's the seeker type of the AA-10 in this picture?

LIGO said:

One question... Why still carrying AA-10 when you have AA-12? What's the seeker type of the AA-10 in this picture?

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i guess maybe it just wanna show she 'can' use SAHM,no other meaning.
like the show of j10,we can see both PL11 and PL12 onboard.

for AA-10(R-27),we know it's a SAHM,but there sure be an ACTIVE RADAR type called R-27AE,but seems no buyer show interest at all.

And look at this pic, it could not be IR type because of the 'sharp' head.