China buys around 30 SU-30MK2 to counter Taiwan - Moscow Times
краткое содержание: как китайцы у нас хорошо закупаются
Russia is also developing Su-30 MK3 with upgraded avionics for export.
Monday, Jan. 27, 2003. Page 9
Eyeing Taiwan, Beijing Buys 30 Sukhoi Fighters
By Lyuba Pronina
Staff Writer After months of negotiations, China has signed off on the purchase of 30 Russian fighter jets worth more than $1 billion in a deal that analysts say hints at growing naval belligerence toward Taiwan.
Last week, state-owned arms selling agency Rosoboronexport signed a contract to sell China around 30 Su-30MK2 fighters, a highly-placed source at Sukhoi, the jet's maker, said.
China is the No. 1 importer of Russian military hardware.
Rosoboronexport was not available for comment.
The company has been tight-lipped about arms sales to China, especially since Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov last year signed an agreement classifying information on military and technical cooperation between the two countries during his visit to China.
The source did not rule out that further purchases by China of the jet could follow, but refused to elaborate.
Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said that China might order up to 50 such jets, repeating an earlier pattern in which it received 26 Su-27 fighters in 1992 followed by 22 in 1995.
Later, in 1999 and 2001, China placed orders through Rosoboronexport for the more advanced Su-30MKK, designed expressly for export to China.
Makiyenko said that under the 2001 contract, 19 jets were delivered last year.
According to Sukhoi head Mikhail Pogosyan, the company delivered more than 60 jets to foreign buyers in 2002.
The importance of this new contract, Makiyenko said, is that the Su-30MK2 -- equipped with X-31A anti-warship missiles -- demonstrates that the Chinese are beefing up their naval forces in preparation for a potential stand-off with Taiwan.
"The Su-30MK2 with the anti-warship missiles present a threat to Taiwanese and U.S. naval forces," he said.
The jet sale is only the most recent evidence of a Chinese naval buildup.
Early last year, Rosoboronexport signed a $1.4 billion deal to deliver two Project 956EM destroyers to China.
Later, Russian media reported there were contracts to deliver eight Project 636 diesel submarines and S-300F naval air-defense systems.
Sukhoi officials said late last year that they were working on a modification of their Su-30MK3 fighter planes in order to include upgraded avionics, such as new radar.
The Su-30MK3 is tailored for export, the company said, as well as domestic use.
The new jet is to be unveiled at the Moscow Air Show in August this year.
краткое содержание: еще одна заметка про то, как китайцы у нас хорошо закупаются
According to Roy's Russian Aircraft Resource, 1/27/03:
China to Buy Another 24 Su-30 Fighters from Russia
China will purchase a huge batch of SU-30MKK fighters from Russia. As Rosoboronehksport has reported, the contract was signed last Monday, the value of which is nearly 1 billion dollars.
As Interfax is reporting with reference to the sources in the defense industrial complex, they will deliver 24 fighters produced at the Komsomol’sk-on-Amur Aviation Production Association to China.
The fighters being delivered to China will be adapted for operation against maritime targets. This is the fourth contract for delivery of Su-30 combat airplanes to China. The first three were concluded in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Russia was obligated to delivery 40 Su-30MK in accordance with each of these agreements. The cost of each contract is estimated at 1.8 billion dollars.
The growing deliveries of Russian arms to China are irritating the United States. This is becoming apparent, true, not in official statements, but in the publications of the local press. Recently, for example, The Washing Post warned that the delivery of Russian submarines “is increasing appreciably China’s capability to blockade Taiwan and to challenge American dominance in the seas surrounding China. The U.S. is the chief supplier of arms to Taiwan, the same as our country is the main exporter of military equipment to mainland China.