Dumb or what?

Is Russia really stupid enough to export 48 no I mean 24 Su-35’s to China. With Advanced Engines (S117) and Avionics (Irbis-E). Really, what would China want with just 24 Su-35’s. When it could produce hundreds more J-11’s and J-10’s for the same price? Clearly, China just wants the Su-35 to gain access to certain technologies.:rolleyes:

This would very likely be incorporated into China’s forthcoming 5th Generation Designs. (i.e. J-20, J-31, etc. etc.)

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/russias-su-35-mystery-fighter-no-more-04969/March 7/13:

China confirmed. China and Russia have apparently signed an intergovernmental agreement, as the 1st step toward a contract for 24 SU-35s. Reports credibly place the agreement date as January 2013, but contract negotiations could take a while.

A trickle of reports from November 2012 to February claimed that Russia and China had a preliminary agreement in place, which would let them negotiate a deal for varying numbers of SU-35s. Russia’s Interfax confirmed the existence and date of that agreement in February 2013, but didn’t specify numbers. Now, a March 8/13 article in The Hindu confirms that talks involve 24 planes, a climb down from Russia’s initial insistence on 48. The Russians are said to have more confidence that China can’t copy their engines, and are also said to need SU-35 orders, since Russia’s VVF is ordering follow-on buys of SU-30SMs instead. On the other side, there’s speculation that SU-35′s improved AL-117S engine could be “of interest” for China’s J-20 stealth plane. If so, it would be a setback to India on 2 fronts: breaking an old pattern by selling China a more modern fighter than India’s SU-30MKIs, and strengthening a competitor to the Indo-Russian PAK-FA stealth fighter project.