Russia has sent a second lot of 10 Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter jets to China under a 2015 contact, Tass reported on Friday.
“Another batch of 10 aircraft has been sent to the customer. China will receive the remaining 10 aircraft in 2018,” said an unnamed source Tass claimed was familiar with Russian military cooperation with foreign states.
Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation declined to comment, Tass reported.
Another source told Tass that the first four Su-35s had been delivered to China in late 2016.
Russia and China signed a $2 billion deal in November 2015 for 24 Su-35 fighter jets – also known by the NATO reporting name Flanker-E – plus ground equipment and spare engines. Reprotedly, the deal does not include transfer of technology.
The Su-35 is a multirole 4th generation super-maneuverable thrust-vectoring fighter jet equipped with a phased array radar. The aircraft’s top speed is reportedly 2,500 kilometres and it has a combat radius of around 1,600 kilometres. It carries a 30mm gun and has 12 hardpoints.