The JoongAng Ilbo, citing a Hong Kong paper which in turn cites a Russian one (ain’t the Internet grand?), is reporting that China has decided to purchase from Russia 50 brand-spanking new Su-33 fighters. This would mark Russia’s second-biggest arms sale ever.
China plans to put her new Su-33s on the formerly Russian aircraft carrier Vargyag, which China plans to put into service in 2008.
13 Comments
Are SU-33’s any good?
The Su-33 is a pretty good airframe. The main advantage (and one of the reasons China would want to use this rather than a domestic plane) seems to be that it was basically developed to take off and land on this class of ship, which pretty much saves China a lot of development time and money. It’s not necessarily equal to the F-22 or F-35, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be.
for use on the Varag? I thought the terms and conditions of sale from the Ukraine shipyard prohibited its use as a Naval Vessel? I thought China swore that they would use it as a floating Casino at Macau? And when it was determined that Macau was too shallow for the Carrier, and no casino bids were or liscenses were registered, it was instead going to be used as a “trainer” for pilots who will then be produced Chinese sent to the domestically Aircraft Carriers. SU-33s aren’t trainers? What the…?
I’m so shocked. How could the benevolent Chinese… [blah][blah]
I think our USN buddies are looking forward to facing a high-value target. I just hope it gets sunk at recreational depth.
The Chinese SU-33s will be equipped with operational security equipment known as keys that wil prevent their theft by drunken GIs R&Ring in Chinese ports that are to hammered to climb on the roof of a taxi to get home
“The Chinese SU-33s will be equipped with operational security equipment known as keys that wil prevent their theft by drunken GIs R&Ring….”
Shame they didn’t have that on the korean bus taken the other day…………
For anyone interested in China’s pursuit of aircraft carriers, here’s a link to an interesting essay published in the Naval War College Review:
http://findarticles.com/p/arti....._113755343
The original text of the deal stipulated that there would only be 2 Su-33’s purchased by the end of this year, with an option for another 12, and then 34 more. The deal could “possibly” total to 48 aircraft which would provide an airwing + attrition spares for the Varyag. The likely variant will be the Su-33UB(Su-27KUB) twin seat tandem trainer/strike variant.
The Varyag may or may not enter service with the PLAN by 2008. No one is certain, beyond the PLAN that is, of the extent of maintenance that has been done on the Varyag. Earlier photographs from this year showed a zinc chromate primer on the flight deck which means that it is being primed for painting but beyond surface maintenance, no one has a clue of the internals. It is possible however to judge readiness of the Varyag based on how high the ship is above the waterline.
I suspect that there is much debate and controversy within the Chinese Naval establishment about the viability and consequences of the PLAN wielding aircraft carriers. There may be some who want carriers simply because it is a prestige item and a benchmark of a navy having achieved a true blue-water capability. There are others who question the strategic value and pay-off of possessing carriers. Carriers are expensive to acquire and maintain. Carriers dont just cruise around in isolation, you need a flotilla of supporting guided-missile destroyers, frigates, and diesel attack submarines to create a “bubble” surrounding the carrier, otherwise it’s just a ripe target. That’s quite expensive. Carriers are mostly used to project air power in far-flung combat zones. The current official PLAN doctrine is focused mostly on developing an asymetric capability based upon building a strong submarine fleet to counter US Navy battle groups and sinking US carriers using cost-effective torpedoes and cruise missiles, in the event of a Taiwan conflict. Finally, you need at least two or three carriers at any given time per battle group, because of the maintenance rotational cycle. Is it really worth all the expense and trouble when the funds could be more effectively invested in Kilo-class submarines?
With this new Varyag development, I think the Chinese are hedging their bets. They havent fully committed themselves to acquiring carrier battle groups yet, but maybe sometime in the indeterminate future, they might. In the meantime, they will utilize the Varyag and the Su-33s for training purposes and to acquire experience in operating a carrier.
I always thought Korea is fully capable of developing a Carrier of their own if they increased their military budget. It would be fun to see a Carrier named Inchon running around sea lanes making the Norks a bit nervous.
More about the Chinese Military here:
http://www.sinodefenceforum.co.....mp;page=36
i think PLAN has no plan for carrier for at least the next few years. (though they may be developing aspects of capabilities)
the varyag was purchased for theme park/casino.
in fact, the (kiev?) in shenshen as a theme park went bankrupt and auctioned for a low price.
Jing, you need a lot of spares as Russian aircraft are notorious for failure. They build them cheaply and they build a lot of them.
One Trackback
[...] If you read the Marmot, you probably heard that China will be purchasing a fleet of Russian SU-33 fighter planes for use on it’s aircraft carriers. While my Russian friend describes it as if “I took my obsolete computer junk, and built my parents a computer twice as good as the ones they were using,” it still gives the Chinese military a boost. He also provided me with this promotional video link, which features the SU-33 performing a variety of air maneuvers to rockin’ music (maybe it convinced the Chinese to make their purchase?). [...]