The first four Sukhoi Su-35 will be delivered to China by the next 25 December, while the entire supply will be completed by 2018. This is what we learn from the Tass agency.
The contract between Russia and China, worth two billion dollars for 24 Sukhoi Su-35, was signed on November 18 last year. China is officially the first country in the world, excluding Russia, to equip itself with advanced fourth-generation fighters.
The evolution of Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker is made in the facilities of the Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, owned by the Sukhoi Company, in the Russian Far East. Each Su-35 was sold for 85 million dollars, with a total contract value of just over two billion dollars.
The Chinese will now be able to get their hands on, probably even extracting the technology needed to produce future versions, on what is considered one of the best fighters ever produced in Sukhoi history.
Discarded the Terminator, a monstrous evolution of the Su-27 with vector thrust engines, the Su-35 project was born in the 2003 as an 4 ++ fighter or advanced fourth generation to bridge the technological gap between the Su-30 and the PAK-FA. 4 ++ fighters incorporate technologies from the previous and subsequent generations. Although not really stealth, their RCS (Radar Cross-Section) is diminished by the massive use of Ram (Radiation-absorbent material).
The Russians, until now unique in using the Su-35, have ordered slightly less than 60. The Sukhoi Su-35 presents improvements in many aspects. From the radar Irbis-E, able to monitor 30 targets at a maximum distance of 400 km with the ability to attach 8 to the absorbent radar coating. From the abandonment of the fins duck to the use of engines Saturn AL-41F1A with vectorial thrust that also allow capacity super-cruise. From the massive use of titanium to reinforce the structure (it gains the cell in terms of operational life) to the modern glass cockpit.
The multi-role fighter Su-35 reaches a top speed of 2.500 kilometers per hour. Its flight range is 3.400 kilometers. According to the Russians, Sukhoi's fourth-generation advanced fighter radar would struggle to identify an F-22, but not the RCS of an F-35. The F-35 is a tactical platform and, we remember, it was not designed for close combat.
(photo: MoD Russian Federation)
