Posted on 03/10/2018 1:58:12 AM PST by BBell
Beijing is happy with the speed and quality of first Su-35 delivery, but makes local production prerequisite of more orders
Multiple sources within Russia and the People’s Liberation Army Air Force suggest that Beijing and Moscow may have struck a preliminary deal for procurement by the PLAAF of more of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighters.
Hong Kong-based military monthly Kanwa Defense Review reported in February that the second batch of the highly maneuverable aircraft with thrust-vectoring engines had already descended on PLA airbases in southern China.
Among those tipped as the likely locations to service and hangar the multi-role air-superiority fighters is the Suixi airbase in southern China’s Guangdong province, which is under the PLA’s Southern Theater Command.
Several Su-35s joined the PLA’s recent circumnavigations of Taiwan and air patrols above the South China Sea, along with Su-30s, H-6K bombers and jammer aircraft.
In November 2015, the PLA became the first export customer for the Su-35 after Moscow and Beijing signed a US$2 billion contract for the purchase of 24 of the fighters. The first four aircraft were delivered in December 2016.
Citing sources within the Russian defense industry, the magazine noted that Su-35 producer Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant had been canvassing more orders after satisfactory feedback from the PLA about the speed and quality of the initial delivery batch.
The Su-35 was a modernized derivative of the Su-27 fighters earmarked for export in the late 1980s, but the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the West’s arms embargo clipped its wings, until orders from Beijing threw a lifeline.
Subsequent improvements have also been made to its cockpit, structural design and weapons-control system over the years.
It’s also said that Beijing has made it clear that more orders can only come under the parameters of knowledge transfer and localized production of some sub-systems and avionics, a tried and true tactic to replicate overseas technologies for cheaper, home-made alternatives.
Still, analysts say Russia may be willing to oblige now that there is a genuine rapport between the two powers, and a plethora of bilateral co-development and co-production of weapons and planes – ranging from cruise missiles to wide-body airliners – is also making headway.
Moscow curtailed arms transfers and cooperation around 2005 over Chinese reverse engineering of weapons systems, especially aircraft engines and components.
But now it has also agreed to sell China advanced S-400 air and missile defense systems, among others, after several years of lobbying by Beijing.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Air Force also finalized the purchase contract for 11 Su-35s in February, with the first delivery expected by October. India and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly mulling possible purchases as well.
The Chinese want technology transfer, in the guise of buying hardware. The Russian technology will be incorporated into the Chinese fighters.
This makes me have to wonder how well the indigenous fighters that China is building are doing.
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Not well as far as the J-20 goes, it has to use the wrong engine for the design because the right engine kept exploding, or other malfs.
If I remember correctly the Chinese tried to reverse engineer a Russian engine but it failed miserably. They then had to install Russian engines in the J 20
So the Chinese are not the grand bastions of engineering and manufacturing prowess that the entire establishment keeps telling us? /s
The only thing the Chinese are good at is stealing technology and industrial secrets from other countries. The Chinese tech empire was built upon industrial espionage. Little to nothing truly innovative originates in China.
OH YEAH? Well what about General Tso's chicken? And coolie hats? And them little ceramic cats that wave to you?
The Russian engines are in the J-10 (the J-15 is the naval version, I think). The Chinese put their W-8? engines in the J-20. They have no luck on turbine manufacture; perhaps GE will help them out.
Was unable to find all the sources for the above - just ran out of time.
Like with everything else, you have to totally understand what it is you are trying to copy to understand how to keep it going. Very few people understand there is a ‘grain’ in all metals and those properties will make and break any attempts to copy it without knowing why the grain exists as it does. Their continual failures at real working copies only exemplifies this.
Now that the blush is off the rose, stealing that tidbit just became exponentially tougher.
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