Russia and China have almost come to agreement on deliveries of 48 multi-role Su-35 fighters with a total value of $4 billion, Kommersant reports. However, a snag has arisen on the way to signing the contract. Moscow demands Beijing’s legal guarantees for denial of copying the Russian fighters in order to prevent the potential competition on other markets. And China is taking it slow.
Several sources close to Russian military-industrial complex have reported about negotiations between Russia and China on deliveries of multi-role Su-35 fighters. "The parties have almost agreed on quantity of the products intended for delivery: China is ready to acquire 48 multi-role Su-35 fighters", — said the source close to the military-technical cooperation system. According to him, the value of this contract is about $4 billion (about $85 million per jet). However, “the price may change during negotiations”. The information regarding these negotiations has been also confirmed by a source close to Chinese part of Intergovernmental commission.
The contract may become the largest one in the history of military-technical cooperation between Russia and China over the last years. The share of PRC in Russian export of arms has been constantly decreasing since 2007 and there were no large contracts between Moscow and Beijing since 2003.
Chinese army men have shown interest in Su-35 during Airshow China 2008 for the first time. The Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese air forces visited the stand of Sukhoi Company, got acquainted with the capabilities of advanced multi-role fighter and highly appreciated its aircraft performance.
Inside dope about China’s intention to acquire a batch of Su-35s has appeared in 2010. However, it has been confirmed only in February 2012, when the First Deputy Director General of Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation, Alexander Fomin, said: "The Chinese party has expressed readiness for acquisition a number of the specified jets and submitted the corresponding offer to us in 2011".
Su-35 (Flanker-E+ in NATO codification) — 4++-generation fighter with a long combat radius. Maximum flight speed is about 2,500 km/h, range — 3,400 km, combat radius — about 1,600 km. It is equipped with 30-mm cannon and has 12 mounting points for missiles, bombs, etc.
However, there is a snag on the way to signing the contract. The Russian party insists on execution of legal guarantees on intellectual property right. "This condition is really important", — says the source close to military-technical cooperation system.
