Is it worth the 24.2 billion super military purchase to introduce the Su-27, and the huge amount of money is spent?The introduction of Su-27 and related technologies not only plays a huge role in promoting the research and development capabilities of China's aviation industry, but also directly upgrades the Chinese Air Force from the second generation to the third generation. If before the introduction of the Su-27, we were a generation and a half behind the advanced level of the world's air forces, then after the introduction, this distance is only half a generation at most.
More than 20 billion yuan is just a small amount for China now, but in the early 90s, it was worth a year's military spending, and with the economic situation at that time, it really took a lot of determination to spend so much money to buy an airplane at once. Of course, the PLA did not disappoint, insisting on the purchase of Su-27 fighters and the introduction of production technology, which led to the rapid development of the aviation industry later. Whether it is worth spending this huge amount of money on a large procurement, the aviation industry has achieved the second modernization of the Air Force by speaking with facts, and it has only made no losses or even doubled it.
Su-27 fighter
In April 1990, China began an official goodwill visit to the Soviet Union, and the two sides resumed technical cooperation in aerospace, and at the same time agreed to provide food and consumer goods to the Soviet Union in the form of loans in exchange for Soviet aviation technology and equipment. In May of the same year, General *** led a military delegation to visit the Soviet Union, and the two sides reached an "Agreement on Military-Technical Cooperation", and then it became possible to purchase high-performance aircraft such as MiG-29 and Su-27.
Since China's aviation industry was trained from the Soviet Union, the equipment fighters at that time were imported from the Soviet Union and copied models, whether it was operating Xi or experience biased towards MiG fighters, so the candidate model in front of the delegation was not surprising MiG-29. However, the MiG-29 played an abnormal role at critical times, and its attraction plummeted, such as the 1989 Paris Air Show when the MiG-29 inhaled a bird in flight, causing the engine to stall and eject successfully, and the pilot broke his leg. The Su-27, which was in the same flight show, shocked the audience with a "cobra maneuver" under the control of Pugachev, which impressed the Chinese aviation industry with the J-8II at that time.
MiG-29 fighter
The crash of the MiG-29 at the Paris Air Show
On September 17 of the same year, the Chinese delegation came to visit the Kubinka Air Base in Moscow, and the VIP was also a potential big customer, and the Soviet side immediately arranged for the MiG-29 to fly and display. It's just that no one expected that bad luck would come again, and the MiG-29 dropped the chain at a critical moment to perform low-altitude aerobatic maneuvers, and the accident that happened at the Paris Air Show before, the Chinese side obviously has little interest in this fighter.
The MiG-29 is a cheap front-line fighter in the Soviet army, with a combat radius of only 600 kilometers, and it is backward in power, radar, and electronic equipment, and it also uses a hydraulic control system that cannot keep up with the times. Positioning and Su-27 high and low matching, more suitable for the Soviet era of the large depth combat system to play a role, if the lack of Su-27 fighter support, obviously for China, a country with a large depth of land air defense is not enough. After knowing the roots, coupled with the fact that the MiG-29 crashed unexpectedly during the two flight demonstrations, the Chinese side directly proposed to purchase more advanced Su-27 fighters.
MiG-29 fighter cockpit layout
Although the Soviet Union did not agree with the MiG-29 fighter at first, after all, this is a cutting-edge fighter with more than just equipment, but it cannot stop the two sides from constantly recalling the fraternal friendship of the past. In the end, the Soviet side agreed**, and in terms of performance specifications, it is the same as the self-use model, and there is no situation where the traditional export model uses the monkey version. In October 1990, the Soviet delegation arrived in China to formally agree on the payment of the Su-27 and the delivery of the standard of business. On December 28, China and the Soviet Union signed and confirmed the purchase agreement of 24 Su-27s, including 20 Su-27SK single-seat and 4 Su-27UBK two-seat trainers, and also reached an agreement of intent to continue to introduce 24 Su-27s.
The total cost of the contract was about 3 billion yuan, referring to the high proportion of military expenditure of only 29 billion yuan in the same year, setting a record for China's foreign trade arms procurement at that time. As the first export of the Su-27, the performance has not shrunk, and it is really powerful like the Soviet Union's own version, and even 70% of the contract amount is settled in the form of barter, saving a lot of foreign exchange. For example, the Chinese side can fully start the production capacity to meet the requirements of the light industrial products such as dog fur coats, hot water bottles, and flashlights needed by the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union is already on the verge of disintegration and is more interested in practical daily necessities.
Su-27 fighter
Su-27 fighter
Although the Soviet Union collapsed after the Su-27UBK aft cabin contract was confirmed, Russia still continued to fulfill it very reliably, and soon the supply also started the second modernization process of the Chinese Air Force. On June 27, 1992, the first batch of 12 Su-27s took off from the Zabaikal Military District and arrived at Wuhu Air Base through Mongolian airspace, including 8 Su-27SK single-seat models and 4 Su-27UBK two-seat trainer types. On November 25, 12 Su-27SK single-seat planes flew directly to Wuhu Air Base, and so far, all 24 Su-27s have been equipped to join the Chinese Air Force.
Obviously, 24 finished aircraft was not enough to change the overall situation, and after realizing that this was the best time to introduce technology, the Chinese delegation visited Russia in 1995 and paid for another 24 aircraft in US dollars. In December 1996, China and Russia formally signed an agreement on the introduction of Su-27 production line, and the contract agreed to establish a production line in Shenfei and manufacture 200 aircraft within 15 years. In addition to the first batch of airframes by the Russian side, the follow-up slowly transitioned to China's own manufacturing, of course, supporting engines, radars and ** are still provided by the Russian side.
Su-27 fighter in transport.
Su-27 fighter
So far, the Su-27 missile has been launched, and China's aviation industry has completed the second modernization and upgrading, based on which it has created a huge J-11 and J-16 families, and finally got rid of the helplessness of continuously improving and upgrading the second-generation aircraft. Of course, there is still a price to pay, in order to obtain the Su-27 production technology transfer license, the entire contract not only consumes a lot of time and energy, but also costs 2.5 billion US dollars. If the US dollar is exchanged for RMB at that time, it is about 1:85 At the exchange rate, the tuition cost is about 21.2 billion yuan, plus the cost of buying the finished machine, the total cost is about 24.2 billion yuan.
This amount is completely small now, but in the 90s it was a whole year's worth of military spending, but it was well spent, and it was simply the best investment in the world. On the basis of the introduction of the Su-27 production line, the J-11B, J-15 and J-16 fighters were successfully built for reference, which also gave a lot of help to the smooth construction of the J-10. In just over 10 years, China's aviation industry has gone from being able to copy second-generation aircraft to independently developing the best fighter jet, and it can be said that the Su-27 is the seed of the Chinese Air Force moving towards modernization.
Su-27 fighter
J-8 fleet.
J-20 fighter.