08.11.2010
China holds negotiations with Sukhoi on procurement of Russian deck-based fighters Su-33. Reportedly, those talks had reached a deadlock, although sources enlightened on the subject say China still takes interest in those aircrafts. According to some information, Russia offered China to purchase deck-based fighters MiG-29K which are currently exported to Indian Navy.
China is about to create own version of
Su-33, but can not do this due to different reasons. Therefore, Chinese officials turn to Russia again and again trying to buy required technologies and gradually achieve progress in development of own deck-based combat aircraft.
Jane's reports that
Sukhoi can offer 12 previously used
Su-33 aircrafts to China which intends to establish training squadron, and then sell 36 new fighters of this type. Newly constructed aircrafts have to be equipped with hardware analogous to that installed in
Su-35. Previously,
Sukhoi and Komsomolsk-on-Amur design bureaus proposed to fit up those aircrafts with equipment of
Su-30MK2. But now, when
Sukhoi and
MiG are integrated into one holding Russia offers new
MiG-29K to China. According to
Jane's, one Russian official said there was no point to resume construction of new
Su-33 aircrafts because development of 5-generation fighter
T-50 is in progress.
It was previously reported that China had purchased prototype of deck-based aircraft
T-10K from Ukraine. This fighter was one of the first experimental models of
Su-33 and had variety of design defects which were eliminated later.
There are two groups in China – industrialists wishing to create a deck-based variant of
J-11B (copied
Su-27), and military experts insisting on buying Russian aircrafts. Higher command of Chinese armed forces must settle this standoff.
