China may buy at least 48 S-35 jets
- By He Shan
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 30, 2012
China and Russia are negotiating contracts regarding the acquisition of Russian Su-35 fighter jets, according to deputy director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, the Global Times reported Wednesday.
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A file photo of a Russian Su-35 fighter jet. |
The contract mainly focuses on the number of jets that China can purchase, the nation would preferably acquire in between 48 and 50 of them, whereas Russian concerns lie more with the risk of leaked expertise secrets.
In the long run, Russia may resume its supply of air defense arms including that of S-400s to China. Moreover, China may also become the first overseas buyer of the Ilyushin Il-476, a multi-purpose four-engine strategic airlifter designed by the Ilyushin design bureau. If the two countries continue the terms and conditions in their contract of 34 Ilyushin Il-76s and four Ilyushin Il-78s, which was inked in 2005, the amount of money involved will reach billions of U.S. dollars.
Analysts believe that China's rise as a global power has provided Russia with new opportunitiesn the fields of military and political cooperation between the two countries.
Russia took up a second spot for world arms sales in 2011, according to the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) think tank. The nation's annual arms exports doubled over the past six years, from US$6 billion in 2005 to over US$13 billion in 2011, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in July.
In 2011, Russia sold nearly US$2 billion worth of weapons to China, accounting for 15 percent of Russia's total arms exports.
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