Beware: That Russian Air Superiority Fighter You Just Bought Might Be An Improved Chinese Knockoff
Submitted by Experience Not Logic Blog
Pravda, a “Russian semi-propaganda newspaper,” recently reported that Russia [is] infuriated with Chinese export copies of Su-27 jet fighters (h/t commenter at Marginal Revolution). The Sukhoi Su-27 fighter, and its numerous variants, is Russia’s most advanced jet fighter in service with the Su-27SM being the most advanced. Back in 1991, Russia sold China 24 Su-27s for approximately $1 billion. A second delivery of 24 Su-27s was made in 1996, and the total deal is worth about $1.7 billion. In the same year Russians and Chinese agreed to a $2.2 billion licensing agreement allowing the Chinese to produce up to 200 Su-27s, to be called the J-11. The license rights did not include export rights to foreign countries. Russia already had a healthy Su-27 export business with customers in Vietnam, India, and Indonesia. The Chinese license agreement, and sales of the Su-27 is an important revenue source for Russia’s military which is using the profit to finance the development of their next generation jet fighter, the Su-37. (Almost all of this data was sourced from FAS’s pages. FAS was founded by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project and were wracked with guilt following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their mission is combating nuclear proliferation and the small arms trade, and world peace in general)
