China may buy more Su-35 fighters
China may buy more Su-35 fighter jets, state media say, after Russia reportedly offered to sell China another batch of the aircraft.
Although the Chinese air force has developed rapidly in recent years, many outdated aircraft are still in service, so buying more Su-35s to replace them would not harm China, commented Wei Hu Tang, a military column on China Central Television.
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| Two Chinese Air Force Su-35s escort an H-6K bomber in May 2018. (Xinhua) |
Uy Ho Duong's article appeared after the news agencyTASSRussia's Federal Service for Technical Cooperation has offered to sell another batch of Su-35 fighters to China, the Russian news agency TASS reported.
However, Fu Tianshao, a Chinese air defense expert, told the Global Times that while China may buy more Su-35s, that does not mean it is to replace old aircraft, because the new Russian aircraft are too expensive while China has too many old aircraft.
The replacement will likely rely on domestically produced aircraft, Mr. Fu said. According to him, since China has already purchased a batch of 24 Su-35s, it does not need more of these aircraft in terms of technical learning.
But if China really wants to buy more, this will help the logistics service for the Su-35 aircraft line more effectively because the additional purchase contract will help the Chinese air force have more spare parts and more manpower, according to expert Pho.
He added that economic and political factors could play a role in any possible sales negotiations as China and Russia have close relations and a Chinese aircraft purchase would also help boost the Russian aviation industry.
China previously signed a contract to buy 24 Su-35S aircraft worth $2.5 billion from Russia, all of which have been delivered to China, according toTASS.
When asked at a regular press conference in November 2018 whether all 24 Su-35s had been delivered, Ren Guoqiang, a spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, did not directly answer the question but said that defense technology cooperation projects between China and Russia were proceeding on schedule.
Su-35 fighters have been deployed to the Chinese Air Force and have carried out missions including patrolling around Taiwan and conducting drills in the South China Sea, according to the Global Times.
Expert Pho said the Su-35 is one of the best 4th generation fighters in the world, but still cannot compare to China's advanced 5th generation stealth fighters, such as the J-20.
In March, the weeklyJane's DefenseRussia has also offered to sell China fifth-generation Su-57 fighters. However, China has not yet responded to Russia's offer.
In August 2018, the Russian Defense Ministry said that all of the Su-35s sold to China would be delivered by the end of the year. The first four Su-35Ss, according to the Diplomat, arrived at a People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) flight training center in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, northern China in December 2016. The second batch of 10 Su-35s was delivered in December 2017.
China’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed in April 2018 that the Su-35s had officially entered service with the PLAAF. The following month, the Su-35s first escorted several Xian H-6K bombers on a patrol flight over the Bashi Channel (between Taiwan and the Philippines) and around Taiwan on May 11, 2018.