Asia-Pacific Military Aviation News roundup: 09 Sept 2013

Royal Malaysian Air Force MiG-29N

And the drip-drip of escalation has just went up a notch. Japan's Ministry of Defence has said that JASDF has scrambled fighters to intercept two H-6 bombers belonging to the Chinese Navy transiting through the Miyako Straits on Sunday. This was followed by the interception of an unidentified unmanned aircraft near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands on Monday.

Looks like Malaysia's plan for a new fighter to replace its MiG-29s have been put on hold. The replacement was due to come on board by 2015 so as to allow the MiGs to be retired.

The deal for China to purchase the Sukhoi Su-35 should be concluded sometime in 2014, according to Russian sources.

Proposed Chinese purchase of Su-35 runs into strife

KnAAPO Photo

So it looks like the proposed sale of the Russian Sukhoi/KnAAPO Su-35 to China has hit a snag. Reportedly due to China wanting to buy (a lot?) less aircraft than Rosoboronexport was hoping to sell.

Quelle surprise.

Russia "on the verge" of selling Su-35s to China

Various media outlets, quoting Russian sources, have reported that Russia is on the verge of completing a sale of 48 Su-35 Flanker-E fighters to China, with the remaining obstacle being guarantees from China that it would not illegally reverse-engineer the aircraft.

Assuming the last bit is true, I wish the Russian side good luck in succeeding with that particular request (demand?).

Russian Air Force to receive up to 100 aircraft from Sukhoi

Good times loom for Sukhoi, as the Russian Air Force is reportedly set to receive up to 100 aircraft from the aircraft manufacturer by 2015. The aircraft are a mix of Su-27SM, Su-30M2, Su-34 and Su-35 multirole fighters.

RuAF to receive first Su-35 by the end of the year

Sukhoi has said that the Russian AF will receive its first Su-35 fighter plane by the end of the year. The Russian Defense Ministry signed a deal with Sukhoi on the purchase of 48 modernized Su-35 jets in 2009.