Chinese Air Defence has taken very important steps, After Building J-20 now to buy Su-35.

Chinese Air Defence has taken very important steps, After Building J-20 now to buy Su-35.

Indeed, while a pair of J-20s garnered the attention of the world’s media, the Russian government quietly announced that it has started work on building 24 Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E fighters for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). China signed a contract for the delivery of two-dozen Su-35s in November 2015 worth at least $2 billion.

Source: South China Morning Post

Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and Russian Deputy Prime Minster Dmitry Rogozin met in Moscow Wednesday on bilateral cooperation, and both sides vowed to continue making joint efforts to promote China-Russia relations.

At the 20th meeting of the Joint Commission for the Regular Prime Ministers' Meetings of China and Russia, Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin four times this year, reaching broad consensus on deepening the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination under new circumstances, which has served as the guideline for bilateral cooperation.

“We are now fulfilling the contract” signed last November, said Vladimir Drozhzhov, deputy director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Co-operation, noting that China had signed an agreement to protect Russia’s intellectual property.

The one advantage the Chinese have over the Russians is in the realm of electro-optical/infrared targeting systems—where Moscow has lagged behind in the wake of the post-Soviet economic meltdown of the 1990s. Indeed, the J-20 does appear to have an electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) mounted under the nose—which could be the Beijing A-Star Science and Technology EOTS-89. But there is no publicly (and reliable) data available about the performance of that sensor. It is very likely it does not match the performance of American or Israeli systems.

Certainly, the J-20 does represent a leap forward for the Chinese defense-aerospace industry. One day, China will be able to develop and build its own jet engines as well as create world-class mission systems avionics—especially given the investment Beijing continues to make into the defense-aerospace sector.

Notes:

1 Philip Hanson, “Russia’s Global Strategy: Is it Economically Sustainable?”, in Putin’s Russia: Really Back?, edited by Aldo Ferrari (Milan: Ledizioni Publishing, 2016), p. 34.

2 Press Statements following Russian-Chinese Talks, 25 June 2016, President of Russia website < http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/17728>.

3 “China, Russia sign joint statement on strengthening global strategic stability”, Xinhua, 26 June 2016; The Declaration of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the Promotion of International Law, 25 June 2016.

4 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Channel NewsAsia, Kuala Lumpur, 5 August 2015.

5 “Beijing seeks Moscow’s support over South China Sea court battle with Philippines”, South China Morning Post, 20 April 2016.

6 “Russia supports China’s stance on South China Sea”, Sputnik, 5 September 2016.

7 “China, Russia kick off joint South China Sea exercise”, USNI News, 12 September 2016.

8 Paul Schwartz, Russia’s Contribution to China’s Surface Warfare Capabilities: Feeding the Dragon (Washington D.C.: CSIS, 2015).

9 Timothy Heath, “How China’s New Russian Air Defense System Could Change Asia”, War on the Rocks, 21 January 2016.