China plans to buy Russian carrier-based fighters, deal in snag

China has been negotiating a deal with Russia to buy aircraft carrier-borne fighters but talks have hit a snag over the minimum number of aircraft to be sold, according to a Hong Kong-based defense magazine. The Kanwa Defense Review says in an article published this month that China wants to acquire 14 Sukhoi-33 multi-role fighters but Russia has baulked at the idea.

The magazine quoted a Russian defense industry source as saying that Beijing told Russia that it would buy up to 50 Su-33 for use on "several" aircraft carriers and wanted to initially acquire two aircraft as "samples." Russia reportedly turned down the Chinese proposal, wary that the Chinese might use the aircraft to copy the technology.

China increased its offer to 14 aircraft but the Russians still said no, arguing that selling Su-33 to China would involve fitting the aircraft to Chinese specifications and selling just 14 aircraft would not cover the extra costs. To build a customized assembly line would require a minimum order of about 24 aircraft, the magazine quoted the source as saying.

The magazine says China is launching a project this year to build two aircraft carriers. The Chinese, it says, plan to ultimately deploy Jian-11 fighters, a multi-role fighter now under development in China, and other Chinese- built aircraft on their future carrier fleet. They are negotiating an aircraft-purchase deal with Russia apparently as a stop-gap measure, the magazine said. There are online media reports that China plans to build a full-size, 93,000-ton nuclear-powered carrier by 2020 and complete the construction of a mid-size, 48,000-ton non-nuclear carrier next year.

Posted in: China,Fighter jet,Naval