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| SU-35 (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By WENDELL MINNICK
TAIPEI — Though not in the bag yet, defense industry analysts and sources in Moscow have confirmed that Beijing and Moscow are negotiating the first Russian export sale of the twin-engine Sukhoi Su-35 multi-role fighter.
If the deal goes forward, China’s fighter capabilities become much greater and the military challenge to regional powers increases. The Su-35s Saturn engines give it a unique supermaneuverability capability.
The principle hurdle has been overcome, said a U.S. defense analyst. Russia has just “caved-in” to demands by China to reduce the initial procurement from 48 fighters to 24 fighters.
“The negotiations on price and other conditions of this deal will take place the next year,” said Vasiliy Kashin, a researcher at the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST). “Such negotiations can also be quite difficult. The contract, I think, is not likely before 2014.”
Read the full story at DefenseNews