Russia and China may soon sign a $4-bln contract on the delivery of 48 Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jets to the Chinese air force, Russia’s Kommersant business daily said on Tuesday.
“The sides have practically agreed on the delivery of 48 Su-35 multirole fighters, worth $4 billion, to China,” Kommersant said citing a source in the Russian defense industry.
According to the paper, the only obstacle remaining is Moscow’s demand that Beijing should guarantee the protection of copyrights on the production of Su-35s without proper licensing.
“Moscow is not only aiming to ensure its presence on the Chinese [combat aircraft] market, but also attempting to prevent the potential copycat production of Russian aircraft for subsequent sales to third parties with predatory pricing,” a Russian government source told Kommesant.
China has a poor record concerning copycat manufacturing of advanced Russian combat aircraft.
Russian experts claim that Chinese Chengdu J-10 fighter is a copy of Su-27 Flanker, Shenyang J-11 is a replica of Su-30 Flanker-C, and FC-1 is a copy of MiG-29 Fulcrum.
The Su-35, powered by two 117S engines with thrust vectoring, combines high maneuverability and the capability to effectively engage several air targets simultaneously using both guided and unguided missiles and weapon systems.
The aircraft has been touted as “4++ generation using fifth-generation technology.”
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