PLAAF must pay double Russian Air Force's price for Su-35 fighter

China's People's Liberation Army Air Force must pay double what the Russian Air Force pays to purchase the country's Su-35 fighter, a source from Russia's aviation industry told the Moscow-based Vedomosti in a report published Aug. 11.

A contract for a new batch of Su-35 multirole air superiority fighters for the Russian Air Force will be signed between the Moscow-based United Aircraft Corporation and Russia's defense ministry at the opening ceremony of the Russian Worldwide Air Show, or MAKS 2015, on Aug. 25. Under the contract, UAC will supply 48 Su-35 fighters to the Russian Air Force before 2020. Sergey Shoigu, the country's defense minister, ordered that all tests and trials for the plane must be completed before the end of this year.

The total price for the 48 fighters will be US$1.58 billion, sources told the newspaper. Konstantin Makiyenko, an analyst from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, said this is the largest deal between UAC and the defense ministry this year, since the air force may not purchase additional Su-30SM fighters and Su-34 tactical bombers in near future.

Russia has also approved the sale of 24 Su-35 fighters to China for a reported price of US$1.5 billion. With China apparently made to pay double what the Russian government pays per unit, this may be one of the reasons the two sides have yet to reach an agreement on the terms of the sale.

Russia to provide Irbis-E radar to China for Su-35 fighters

Russia is likely provide the Irbis-E passive electronically scanned array radar system to China's PLA Air Force along with 24 advanced Su-35 fighters, according to the Sputnik News based in Moscow on Aug. 12.

Yury Bely, director of the Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design, told Sputnik News that Russia is negotiating with China about providing the radar systems to the PLA Air Force for use with the 24 Su-35 fighters which will also be purchased from Russia. Rosoboronexport, the state intermediary agency for Russia's imports and exports of military hardware, confirmed in June that the contract regarding the sale of Su-35 fighters to China will be signed before the end of 2015.