По данным Джейнс, китайцы близки к заключению сделки на Су-33
Информация приводится со ссылкой на источник в российской промышленности. Переговоры велись несколько лет, китайцы выбирали между морской версией J-10 и Су-33. В итоге решено взять 14 Су-33 для тренировок. Следующим шагом станет модернизация Су-33, в первую очередь за счет нового БРЭО аналогичного Су-30МК2, и это будет базовая версия для ВМФ НОАК. В новой конфигурации предполагается взять от 36 до 50 машин с возможным опционом в случае если КНР будет строить два АВ.
Впрочем, пока неясно, будет ли привлекательной для китайцев цена глубоко модернизированного Су-33, и не возьмут ли они вместо него МиГ-29K, говорит источник на КнААПО.
Date Posted: 27-Oct-2008
Jane's Defence Industry
China considers next-generation Su-33s for aircraft carrier programme
Reuben F Johnson JDW Correspondent
Key Points
China is nearing a decision on aircraft for its aircraft carrier programme
Under the current proposal, the Russian in-service Su-33 would be put back into production
14 Su-33s would be used for the training phase of the programme
China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is close to reaching a decision on the procurement of aircraft for its aircraft carrier programme, Russian industry sources have told Jane's .
Negotiations between the PLAN and the Komsomolsk-na-Amure Aviation Production Association (KnAAPO) in Russia have been held intermittently for several years, with the Chinese military said to be unsure whether to purchase a version of the Sukhoi Su-33 carrier-capable fighter or develop its own carrier aircraft based on the Chengdu J-10.
Russian sources have now told Jane's that under the current proposal the Russian in-service Su-33 would be put back into production and that the PLAN would acquire 14 of this type to be used for the training phase of the programme.
This option will see a carrier aircraft delivered to the PLAN in the shortest possible timeframe.
The development of a new-configuration aircraft to be used in actual carrier operations would take place in parallel with this training programme.
"The next step will be to modernise the Su-33, which was first designed in the late 1980s, with a new set of state-of-the-art on-board systems," a KnAAPO representative told Jane's on the eve of the biennial Air Show China in late October. "What this new aeroplane is most likely to be is a combination Su-33 airframe with a radar, avionics and cockpit instrumentation that is a 'developed' configuration based on the Su-30MK2, and this will be the PLAN's operational version."
Between 36 and 50 of these new-configuration Su-33s would be procured, with a possible follow-on order if the PLAN decides to expand its fleet to two carriers.
This next-generation Su-33 could also have a number of new capabilities beyond the Su-30MK2, including an advanced, fully digital flight control system and either the NIIP Irbis-E or an active electronically scanning array (AESA) radar set. The aircraft will also most likely be capable of firing the new weaponry designed for the Su-35 Super Flanker: a Vympel- or Novator-designed long-range, ramjet-powered air-to-air missile and the Novator Club 3M-14AE - and longer-ranged 3M-54AE/AE1 variant - anti-ship missiles.
The training of the Chinese carrier pilots would take place on land-based facilities similar to those developed at Saki in Ukraine - used for training Soviet and Russian carrier pilots in the 1980s and 1990s - and on Varyag , the Kuznetsov-class carrier purchased from the Nikolayev shipyards in Ukraine by China in 1998.
Currently, Varyag sits in the port city of Dalian and has been repainted in PLAN battle grey; but it lacks most of the electronics and other on-board systems needed for full-time operations at sea.
Varyag is expected to be used as a training platform while the PLAN constructs its own carrier with a similar ski-ramp take-off, arrested recovery flight-deck design.
It is unclear whether "the Chinese will absorb the cost of essentially redesigning the Su-33 with a new internal configuration or if they will be encouraged to instead purchase a MiG-29K similar to that sold to the Indian Navy", said the KnAAPO source. The MiG-29K-9.41 aircraft is a modernised, up-to-date version of the older MiG-29K-9.31 prototype aeroplane that was designed at the same time as the original Su-33, so it is an "available now, low-risk option".
KnAAPO has indicated its concern that senior Unified Aircraft Corporation (UAC) officials may try to steer the PLAN towards some version of the UAC-built MiG-29K, but it is doubtful that the PLAN would be willing to switch to the MiG, with so much of Chinese industry and the air force now basing their operations on the Su-27 and its derivatives.
The acquisition of the Su-35 and/or the fifth-generation PAK-FA would further commit China to Sukhoi platforms.
