Russia sends 10 Su-30 fighter jets to China

Got this scoop from Tom at the ACIG:

19 August 19
Russia sends 10 Su-30 fighter jets to China
MOSCOW, (AFP)

Russia on Monday sent 10 Sukhoi SU-30MKK fighter-bombers to China, the first shipment of a 28-plane deal sealed with Beijing last month, Interfax reported. The jets, made at an aircraft plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, are designed for naval use, Interfax said.

The Sukhoi-30MKK, which sells for an estimated 35 million dollars (35.6 million euros), has a range in excess of 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles), which means it can easily patrol offshore without requiring aerial refueling.

China has agreed to a four-billion-dollar weapons package with Moscow over the next four to five years aimed at reinforcing its ability to blockade Taiwan and challenge US naval supremacy in nearby seas.

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My opinion:

So fast? Um, probably not. There may be an actual event 10 SU-30MKKs being delivered but the rest of the article is guestwork. More likely this is from the second batch of SU-30MKK that was ordered a year ago, but that wasn’t expected until 2003. Maybe they worked really fast.

Maybe, and I think this is the most likely, it’s a delivery of 10 SU-27UBK that was last ordered in 1999 in a package of 28 planes. That’s the only “28” plane order I’ve known the PLAAF to have undertaken.

A translation from Chinese of a Jane’s report is saying the SU-30MKK orders as 38 + 38 + 38, as increments of 38 or each batch being 38. They also said the third batch can start delivering as early as April of 2003, which I think is a tad bit optimistic.