Chinese Sukhoi fighter jets to

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 10-07-02 AT 11:18 PM (GMT)]be fitted with Russian missiles

11:04 GMT – YANGCUN, China, July 10 – China will use its newly acquired Russian AA-12 air-to-air missiles mainly on its growing fleet of imported Russian Sukhoi fighter jets, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force commander said Wednesday.
Commander of the 24th Air Division of the PLA air force Wang Wei also said that it was likely that a new domestically produced Chinese fighter jet, the F-10, could be rolled out soon.

“The need to update our equipment has become a growing tendency in the development of our military, we need advanced weapons and at present as we don’t have an outstanding fighter jet, we need to import this important kind of aircraft,” Wang told journalists.

“I myself believe that this is necessary.”

Wang made the comments at a rare briefing to the foreign press corps on China’s military modernization.

China is preparing to accept delivery of up to 48 of Russia’s most advanced Sukhoi SU-30MKK fighter jets in an estimated two-billion-dollar contract, signed last July.

It is also building 200 SU-27SKs under license in the northeastern city of Shenyang, to be added to an existing fleet of some 50 SU-27s.

In late June, it was first reported that Chinese SU-27s had test fired for the first time the Russian-made AA-12 missiles, causing a commotion in Taiwan — which immediately began seeking similar weapons from the United States.

“The AA-12 is a very good missile, if we have this kind of missile it will help us to gain air superiority in battle,” Wang said.

“For these missiles my understanding is that they will be outfitted on the Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets.”

The missile is seen as comparable to the US-made AIM-120 active-radar fire-and-forget air-to-air missile, has a range of 93 kilometers (56 miles) and is particularly capable against Airborne Warning and Controlaircraft.

China’s acquisition of some of Russia’s finest fighter jets gives the PLA a top-notch air force with a vast array of advanced equipment, including high tech avionics and weaponry.

Western diplomats in Beijing expect China to also acquire over time the wide-ranging arsenal that go with the planes, including precision-guided-munitions and air-to-surface missiles.

The 24th Air Division, located around 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Beijing, houses around 30 F-8 fighter jets, 20 F-7 fighter jets, an older version modelled on a 1950s-vintage Soviet Mig-21 and other assorted planes.

The F-8s and F-7s are domestically made.

Wang said that he had heard the long-awaited F-10 could be rolled out at this fall’s Zhuhai Airshow in southern Guangdong province, and that the plane was expected to be sporting Russian engines.

“I have heard these reports, but I do not have the details,” he said.

The F-10 program began in the early 1990s and is widely believed to be based on Israeli design and contain Israeli and Russian avionics, although it has been hampered by test flight problems, Beijing-based diplomats said.

China inked a 10-year deal with the Russian engine maker SRPC Salut for 300 Al-31F engines for its J-10 program and will begin production of the jets next year, Russian sources in Beijing said late last year.

The engines are the same that power the Su-27.

The plane is said to have capabilities similar to the Su-27, the Russian MIG-29 and the US F-16 fighter jets, but with an estimated cost of less than 10 million dollars could rival other jet makers on the international market, they said.

source: http://www.defense-aerospace.com/afp/defense/020710110418.1ywu1kza.html

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Got this from Xinhui at the CDF.

$10 million dollars for a J-10? Are they kidding? If this is even a flyaway cost, a contract cost would still be about $20 million (applicable only for potential export markets; I don’t know how contract costs are applicable inside a communist system.)

As for the title of the article, I can only say something about the IQ of the reporter, being duh…