In the nineties, Russia introduced the Su-30 fighter, which attracted much attention. Both India and China have bought the fighter, but their choices and subsequent results have been very different.
India bought the highest configuration of the Su-30, thinking that it would be among the most powerful fighters in the world at that time. However, this is not the case. The Indian Air Force has encountered many problems in the use of the Su-30, not only in the case of plane crashes, but also in the case of Russian technical support, they cannot solve the problem of production quality, and the time cost is far higher than expected.
Instead, China chose the most suitable model for itself, the Su-30MKK. This fighter has been in service in China for more than 20 years, and not only has a stable performance, but what is even more amazing is that China has developed a series of advanced fighters based on this fighter. This very different result has caused people to think and **.
China's economy is a priority, and military spending was limited in the 90s
In the 90s of the 20th century, China was in a critical period of economic reform and opening up, and economic construction was regarded as the primary task, so investment in national defense and military was relatively limited.
At that time, China mainly relied on the J-6, J-7 and J-8 series of fighters, but there was a significant gap between these fighters and the modern equipment of other countries.
The J-6 and J-7 originated in the late 50s and 60s of the last century, and were copied from the MiG-19 and MiG-21 imported from the Soviet Union, while the J-8 was based on the J-7 with some improvements.
These fighters have a small fuselage, limited bomb load, and lack modern combat equipment, which cannot meet the growing operational needs of the squadron.
At the same time, China's neighboring countries have begun to equip themselves with third-generation advanced fighters on a large scale, putting unprecedented pressure on the Chinese Air Force.
For example, Japan's Self-Defense Forces continued to introduce F-15 fighters, and by the mid-90s, all the aging F-4 fighters had been replaced, giving them an all-round combat advantage.
South Korea, on the other hand, has successively purchased F-16s from the United States and obtained the rights to produce them domestically, allowing it to have a large number of F-16 fighters.
Against this backdrop, China is faced with the rapidly assembling of powerful Japanese and South Korean air forces, as well as the U.S. Navy and Air Force stationed in the Asia-Pacific region.
The U.S. Navy's multiple carrier battle groups are equipped with a large number of F-14 Tomcat and F A-18 Hornet fighters, ready to carry out naval and air operations.
The performance of these third-generation advanced fighters far exceeded the existing equipment of China at that time.
Therefore, in order to quickly improve its combat capability and catch up with strategic competitors, China chose to introduce Russia's Su-30 series fighters, which made a similar choice to India at the same time.
"China and India's purchase of Russian-made Su-30 fighters: cooperation and challenges"
In the mid-1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the turbulent economic situation in Russia, Russia began to open the door to the export of fighter jets in search of foreign exchange earnings.
China and India, two traditionally friendly countries, have the opportunity to purchase Russian-made main fighters.
At that time, the newly commissioned Su-30 fighter attracted great attention from the air forces of the two countries with its excellent flight performance and strong combat capabilities.
After some negotiations, at the end of 1996, India took the lead in signing a contract with Russia to introduce 40 Su-30MKI fighters with strong performance, and obtained a production license, and subsequently purchased 140 more fighters.
The Su-30 fighters imported from India are delivered in batches, each batch has a different technical configuration, customized modifications according to India's requirements, including LCD screens from France, avionics from Israel, India's self-developed radar siren device and N011M phased array radar and other cutting-edge technologies.
Although India has made a lot of demands when customizing Su-30 fighters, and Russia has made concessions and calm, it is actually playing its own small calculations behind it.
At the time, Russia itself was not equipped with Su-30 fighters, so India's customization was effectively a Russian experiment to determine which technical configuration would work best, and India paid for the customization at its own expense.
Later, Russia introduced the Su-30SM fighter, which was upgraded based on the results of Indian tests. Therefore, in the eyes of Russia, India seems to have become a "guinea pig".
However, it is precisely because of India's customization requirements that Russia continues to improve the Su-30MKI and increase high-end equipment, so that the Su-30MKI introduced by India surpasses the Su-27 series fighters in over-the-horizon air combat and close-range combat performance.
The reason why India is willing to introduce the Su-30MKI is, on the one hand, because the Indian Air Force has been in a weak position for a long time, and the main fighter is still the outdated MiG-21 series.
In the 1990s, both India and China faced the need to update their foreign military equipment, and the Su-30 fighter jet launched by Russia became the focus of the two countries' purchases.
For India, its main competitor was Pakistan, which was armed with F-16 fighters supplied by the United States, which far outperformed India's aging fighters at the time. In order to be ahead of its opponents in terms of equipment, India urgently needs an advanced fighter with the ability to turn defeat into victory. The emergence of the Su-30MKI precisely meets this need, and its world-leading technology and performance give India hope to change the status quo of the Air Force.
China, by contrast, is more focused on choosing the right fighter for its needs. Although the performance of the Su-30MKI far exceeds that of the Su-30MKK, China still chose the relatively mature and reliable Su-30MKK. The actual needs of the Chinese Air Force determine this choice, and more importantly, the Su-30MKK is able to meet the operational needs of the Chinese Air Force and at a more manageable cost.
The Su-30MKI introduced by India is more advanced in terms of technical configuration, such as being able to track 12 targets and launch attacks on 4 main targets at the same time, while the Su-30MKK introduced by China is relatively small. However, China's customization requirements for the Su-30MKK are closer to its actual needs, hoping to increase the performance in terms of range, bomb load and service life, which also makes the Su-30MKK introduced by China more in line with its actual combat needs.
Russia has customized it according to the different needs of both countries. For India, Russia has carried out many technical upgrades and customized configurations according to its requirements, while for China, Russia has followed the mature technology of the Su-27, and has carried out a certain degree of performance improvement on this basis, such as increasing the paypoint and extending the service life. This differentiated customized modification reflects the different strategic considerations and technical needs of various countries for the Su-30 fighter.
The Su-30MKK fighter has been improved in terms of range, its fuel carrying capacity has been greatly increased, and the range has been increased to 3600 km (without carrying auxiliary fuel tanks and only a small amount **).
The first Su-30MKK was delivered to the Chinese Air Force in 2000, while the second batch of fighters was delivered to the Chinese Navy after some improvements to the ** equipment.
It can be seen that although in the mid-1990s, both China and India chose to import Su-30 family fighters from Russia, the subsequent development was very different.
The dilemma of the Indian Su-30: it cannot be localized and is constrained by Russia"
After the introduction of the Su-30MKI, the Indian Air Force at one time proudly believed that it had the most powerful fighter in the world at that time.
"Challenges and lessons learned from the Indian Su-30MKI"
India is trying to localize and maintain the Su-30MKI on its own, but it faces two major problems.
First of all, India's aviation manufacturing industry has a weak base, which has led to a failed attempt at localization. Although India chose to introduce the Su-30MKI because of its strong performance, the high cost makes the quality of each batch of deliveries uneven, and the key components still need to be imported from Russia, which makes India face many difficulties in the localization process. Despite Russia's technical support, India's own inefficient production and poor quality control ultimately prevented it from operating fully autonomously.
Secondly, the Su-30MKI fighters of the Indian Air Force have a higher accident rate. This is mainly due to the insufficient training of pilots for this model, as well as the inability to guarantee the quality of domestic components. In the period from 2014 to 2018 alone, there were 5 accidents with the Su-30MKI. More seriously, in the 2019 India-Pakistan border conflict, a Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter shot down an Indian Air Force Su-30MKI for the first time, exposing the inadequacy of the Indian Air Force's use of this model in actual combat.
Unable to achieve autonomy, India has to continue to order upgraded Su-30s from Russia to make up for the lack of its own equipment. This has made it difficult for the Indian Air Force to get rid of its dependence on Russia in the use and maintenance of Su-30 series fighters. It can be said that India chose to introduce the Su-30MKI, which has the strongest performance, but it has paid a heavy price, and has been held back by Russia and cannot really control the fate of its own defense equipment.
"China's Su-30: Independent innovation and equipment leapfrogging"
Unlike India, China did not stop after introducing the Su-30MKK, but launched a series of independent innovations on the basis of digestion and absorption.
In accordance with the strategic needs of the Chinese Air Force, the necessary improvements were made to the Su-30MKK, giving it the ability to strike at long distances.
By adding large-capacity auxiliary fuel tanks, the range of the Su-30MKK was increased from 3,000 km to 4,000 km, significantly expanding the combat range.
At the same time, the maximum bomb load reached 8 tons, which provided a more solid basis for long-range air strikes.
In order to improve the service life, China has strengthened the structure of the Su-30MKK, enhanced the fatigue resistance, and extended the inspection cycle of key components, so that its life reaches 6000 hours, which greatly reduces the maintenance burden.
These improvements are aimed at the actual needs of China and further enhance the combat effectiveness of the Su-30MKK.
In addition to the improvement of the Su-30MKK, China has also made progress in independent research and development.
Based on the Su-30MKK, China's aviation industry has independently developed new models such as the J-11BS and J-16.
These new domestically produced aircraft have been markedly enhanced in their air combat and strike capabilities, enabling China to gain strategic superiority in regional operations.
China did not stop at the introduction of foreign platforms, but on the basis of absorbing its design concepts, promoted the independent innovation of domestic fighters and got rid of dependence on foreign equipment.
Conclusion
China's practice shows that independent innovation is the key to leapfrogging the development of equipment. In contrast, India is overly reliant on foreign equipment and has fallen into the same position.
This once again proves the importance of independent innovation and self-reliance. China should continue to adhere to independent innovation to ensure the self-reliance and self-improvement of national defense equipment and maintain the best defense