Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao inspects the Su-35

The following is based on a translation of a report on a Chinese news site:

A report in mil.huanqiu.com says that China had a long and hard discussion with Russia for 7 years for the purchase of Russian Su-35 fighter jets, until it entered into a contract of purchase of 24 Su-35s for US$2 billion.

The report says that China finally agreed to the purchase due to the tension in the South China Sea between China and the U.S.

China will not be able to deploy its J-20 and J-31 stealth fighters to deal with U.S. threat for a few years to come.

The long range of the Su-35 and its superiority to U.S. and Japanese fighter jets will enable China to patrol the South China Sea for 24 hours every day for the time being until it is able to deploy its own stealth fighters.

The Su-35’s ability to take off from a relatively short runway will enable it to use the runways China will build on its artificial islands.

Moreover, the high price of the purchase indicates the transfer of some technology to China, especially that in the Su-35’s Irbis-E radar that can detect a stealth fighter jet like the F-35 90 km away, and the Russian 117S engine.

Contributed by “Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements” – Author of “Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements” and “Space Era Strategy” – Also English/Chinese translation service

Source: mil.huanqiu.com “Russia media: China purchases Su-35 for incessant patrol of the South China Sea and deployment on its artificial islands” (summary by Chan Kai Yee based on the report in Chinese)

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Categories: Defence & Aerospace

Tags: China, Defence, F-35, Military, Philippines, Russia, South China Sea, Spratly Islands, Su-35, United States