The Chinese Air Force and Navy will have no less than 380 Su-27 and Su-30 heavy fighters thanks to the contracts that were signed before the end of this year. A deputy director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, Konstantin Makiyenko, made this statement in a monograph on Russian-Chinese defence ties.
“If the Chinese Air Force has not lost aircraft supplied from Russia, it will have no less than 124 Su-27/30 heavy fighters under contracts and assembled under licence by the end of 2002. They will have 352 fighters (plus 28-40 Su-30 MKK in the Chinese navy) under all of the contracts signed at present,” the expert said.
Considering prospects for arms trade, the expert said China might buy an extra batch of training combat planes or a new licence to produce 100-150 two-seat airframes for Su-30.
“As the Chinese Air Force obtains warplanes, the accent will be shifted onto the purchase of means of logistic support, mostly to be placed far from bases. These means include Il-76 landing and cargo planes, Il-78 tanker aircraft, and A-50 long distance radar planes,” the expert said.
“It can be supposed that China is interested in buying MiG-31s, Tu-22M3s equipped with the X-22 missile system, 949A project submarines or heavy 1144 project nuclear powered missile cruisers,” he said.
“There is no open information confirming this theory yet,” he added.
Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union – Political (19th December, 2002)
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Steve Rush Touchdown-News
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December 19, 2002 at 3:54 pm