Russian visit to China appears to seal the Su-30MKK deal, but no details as yet

Published: 9/1/1999

A recent visit to China by Ilya Klebanov, Russian Deputy Prime Minister responsible for defence and aerospace industries, has confirmed a contract with China for the delivery of some 40 Su-30MKKs. Details of the contract have not been disclosed, but it is estimated that it is worth around $2 billion. OKB Sukhoi and KnAAPO will largely fulfill the contract. The Russian delegation included Aleksey Ogarev, Director General of Rosvooruzheniye, the state arms export agency, and Yury Koptev, Director General of the Russian Aerospace Agency. One of the purposes of the visit was to take part in a bilateral commission on military and industrial cooperation. Ilya Klebanov made it plain that one of the major issues of the negotiations would be the sale of Su-30MKK to China. A preliminary agreement was reached in June 1999, during a visit to Russia by the Deputy Chairman of the Central Military Council of China (www.concise.org 6/16/99). Russia agreed in principle to deploy the licensed production of the combat aircraft in China. Earlier, in 1992-1996, Russia supplied China with 74 different modifications of Su-27 In 1996, China obtained the licence for the production of 200 Su-27SK. These transactions earned Russia a total of $4.2 billion. China has also bought other armaments such as submarines, warships, and S-300 anti aircraft system from Russia. Su-30MKK, a two seat multirole fighter, in contrast to the Su-30MKI (to be delivered to India), the Su-3-MKK does not have a fore horizontal stabiliser and a thrust vector control system. Its maneuverability, therefore, is lower than that of Su-30MKI presumably to appease the Indians who have paid a considerable cost to develop their variant of the standard Su-30MK. Su-30MKK is equipped with an inflight refueling system and onboard targeting system capable of using both unguided and high precision guided arms against ground targets. KnAAPO has completed two such fighters with 501 and 502 registration numbers, which are undergoing tests at present. According to Ilya Klebanov, the Russian delegation proposed to the Chinese a number of "new, very serious offers, including offers in the field of military-industrial cooperation” and suggested new deals may be imminent. Curiously given the current problems with the ISS and Russia's contribution, in something of an after thought,Klebanov added that Russia and China might even create a joint space station.

Article ID: 815