How China Plans to Use the Su-35 (to dominate the South China sea and pwn the Filipinos and Vietnamese)

[mota bhai 2,675]

A senior executive at Russia’s state arms export company, Rosoboronexport, has said that Russia will sign a contract to sell the advanced Su-35 jet to China in 2014 ... China’s interest in the new-generation fighter is worth examining for what it reveals about ... China’s strategy for managing territorial disputes in the South China Sea. If successful, the acquisition could have an immediate impact on these disputes. In addition to strengthening China’s hand in a hypothetical conflict, the Su-35’s range and fuel capacity would allow the People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF) to undertake extended patrols of the disputed areas.

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Viewing the purchase of the Su-35 through the lens of China’s strategic needs and events, like the recent territorial spats with its neighbors, provides a useful perspective on just why China is so eager to acquire the Sukhoi jet.

Simply put, the Su-35 is the best non-stealth fighter in the world today. Though stealth has come to dominate Western aircraft design, in terms of China’s needs, other factors take precedence. Even more surprisingly, superiority in air-to-air combat is not the Su-35’s key selling point. while the Su-35 gives the Chinese military a leg up versus the F-15s and other aircraft fielded by neighbors like Japan, the advanced Russian jet does not add significant new capabilities to conflict areas like the Taiwan Strait. Large numbers of interceptors and multi-role jets like the J-10 could easily be deployed over the Strait, or to areas near Japan like the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. The advantage of the Su-35 rather lies in its speed and ample fuel tanks. Like the Su-27, the Su-35 was created to patrol Russia’s enormous airspace and to be able to meet incoming threats far away from Russia’s main urban areas. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) faces similar problems.

The South China Sea is just such a problem. A vast area of 1.4 million square miles (2.25 million square kilometers), China’s claims, as demarcated by the famous “nine-dashed line,” pose challenges for the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) current fighters. Currently, land-based PLANAF fighters, can conduct limited patrols of the sea’s southern areas, but their fuel capacity severely restricts the time they can spend on patrol. Enforcing claims far from the mainland in times of crisis requires the type of range and speed that the Su-35 possesses. The Su-35 is likely meant to help enforce China’s territorial claims, further deter regional claimants, and provide additional layers of protection in the case of escalation. The key to this is fuel.

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Such long-range aircraft would be able to “show the flag” for longer, or quickly intercept Philippine aircraft in the region. In the case of the Su-35, it would likely be able to outfly and outshoot any Philippine or Vietnamese aircraft (or surface vessel for that matter) largely rendering competing territorial claims irrelevant.

This is the sort of fait accompli situation that China has sought to create, for example with the “eviction” of the Philippine presence from the Scarborough Shoal and repeated fly-bys of the disputed area in the East China Sea: an overwhelming Chinese presence around territorial claims, leaving the contender with the options of significantly ratcheting up tensions and likely losing any skirmish or accepting a regular Chinese military presence.

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This gives China the ability to project military power over a larger portion of Southeast Asia and indeed, most of the ASEAN nations.

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Without a combat-capable air force and naval forces largely comprising aging 1960s-era former U.S. Coast Guard cutters, the Philippines cannot effectively challenge China’s territorial claims. The Sukhoi jets’ larger fuel capacity and in-flight refueling capability mean that Chinese jets could remain on station for longer, enforcing their claims by conducting patrols and interceptions in a more consistent way.

http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/how-china-plans-to-use-the-su-35/?allpages=yes

[Pooky 3,840]

The Diplomat needs to check the assessment of professionals, before declaring the Su-35 the best non-stealth fighter in the world today. It's marginally better than an F-15C Eagle. The Dassault Rafale will match it. The Eurofighter Typhoon will ace it at a lopsided kill ratio of 4.5 to 1. And that's before the Tranche 3 production run gets the CAESAR radar set, sometime around 2016.

The Philippines has no measurable air arm and no money to acquire one. That leaves the USA on the hook, should they need military support to deter the Chinese.

The South Koreans are currently looking at the F-35, an upgraded F-15 and the Typhoon. This move by the Chinese and the Russians might help Eurofighter export a few more.

The Japanese are also looking at modernizing elements of the JASDF. Mind you, an Su-35 is no match for Godzilla, so they might not be that worried.

[imb]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/Final_Wars_Godzilla.jpg[/img]