Key Points and Summary: Russia’s 2015 sale of 24 Su-35 fighters to China was more than optics—it was “fighter plane diplomacy” with lasting military effects.
-Beijing gained exposure to the AL-41F1S engine and 3D thrust-vectoring know-how, training pilots on a high-end platform and accelerating upgrades that later appeared across PLAAF/PLAN fleets (including newer J-10C and J-15B variants).
-For Moscow, the deal brought hard currency under sanctions and deepened military ties with a crucial partner. Beyond the bilateral optics, the transfer fits China’s “self-help” strategy: absorb foreign tech, iterate fast, and tilt the regional balance—without buying many airframes or accepting a license line.
Su-35: Russian-Chinese Fighter Plane Deal Is More Than Diplomacy
I often discuss my concept of “fighter plane diplomacy” in these pages of the National Security Journal.
This discussion usually highlights the American efforts to collect more international partners for the F-35 Lightning II program that has achieved such goodwill between the United States and its allies over the years. But US adversaries also enter into fighter plane diplomacy agreements. Let’s take a look at one such case study between Russia and China.
The Russian Su-35 heavy fighter ended up in Chinese hands when 24 airplanes were sold to Beijing in 2015. China had been the first export customer for the Su-35. While China kept that purchase limited to two dozen, Russia inquired whether the Chinese would have been interested in producing the Su-35 under a manufacturing license. Beijing demurred on that idea.
Quick Timeline of the Su-35 Purchase
The contract was worth $2 billion, but the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) thought they got a fair price for the Su-35. Beijing had been interested in the fighter since 2006. Discussion for the sale began in 2010. An initial earnest agreement to continue negotiations was consummated in 2012. By 2019, all Su-35s had been delivered.
Did The Chinese Copy the Su-35 Engine?
China may have intended all along to reverse-engineer the Su-35s it received without a license. This practice has been a sneaky habit of the PLAAF that it concocted over the years, especially when it dealt with Russia for military hardware exchanges.
The PLAAF was especially interested in the Su-35’s engine. The Saturn AL-41F1S powerplants were seen as robust and would fit nicely into future PLAAF next-generation airplanes like the J-20 and J-35.
Russia Needed Some Good News
China also cemented the Su-35 acquisition at a good time for Russia. Vladimir Putin had already annexed Crimea, and the Kremlin was public enemy number one on the world stage. The international sanctions were taking a bite out of the military-industrial complex. Moscow needed a friend, and Beijing was happy to oblige.
Tilting the Balance Against the US and NATO
This is where fighter plane diplomacy came in. Russia and China had often engaged in combined military exercises, and an arms deal with an advanced airplane would help the interoperability between the two air forces so that they could band together much to the Americans’ chagrin. NATO was also concerned with the tight relationship between China and Russia. China could supply Russia with new civilian manufacturing products, helping them avoid sanctions.
Plus, the PLAAF needed to train its pilots on high-tech airplanes. Twenty-five years ago, Chinese aviators would refuse to fly in bad weather or at night. They had no combat experience and needed expert training. Xi Jinping also wanted fighter jets that could enforce territorial claims in the First Island Chain and bolster the PLAAF fleet, should Xi attempt an amphibious invasion against Taiwan.
Then there were the engines that had the three-dimensional thrust vectoring feature. Only Russia had these, and the Chinese were salivating at the possibility of “borrowing” this technology for future flight. Russia was displeased, as they anticipated the PLAAF would eventually replicate the engine specifications for their own use. However, $2 billion was a substantial amount of money, and Russia required hard currency following the annexation of Crimea.
The engines on the Su-35 eventually helped the PLAAF and the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The J-10C came out with better maneuvering thrust vectoring engines for the PLAAF—ditto for the J-15B carrier-based fighter for the PLAN. This was considered a significant development for the Chinese. Even though they only purchased 24 of the Su-35s, the new engine technology changed the balance in favor of the People’s Republic.
More About the Su-35
The Su-35 is considered a worthy adversary for the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific. It is known as the Flanker-E. Some classify it as a fourth-generation “+” or even a “++” fighter that is super maneuverable and highly survivable in an air superiority role.
“Its radar system is particularly impressive, as it can detect airborne aircraft from up to 350 kilometers away. If an enemy F-35 did detect it, one former NATO commander said that the F-35 would likely retreat, due to the Su-35’s super maneuverability. Its producer, Rostec, has claimed the jet has no angle-of-attack limits. It can also reach supersonic speed without the need of an afterburner. This likely contributed to the Su-35’s success against Ukraine’s S-300 missile launchers soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022,” according to DefensePriorities.org.
China is always trying to advance what international relations theorists call “self-help.” This means they are a ravenous military power hungry for the best in conventional weapons to protect themselves in an anarchic global system. It is always living in an arms race, and if it has to copy or reverse engineer components or designs, so be it. These nefarious deeds and dirty pool just mean China is acting in its own national interest to increase its overall power level.
The Su-35 deal is a case in point. China sees an arms deal as more than acquiring a single weapons system. It also recognizes that it can adapt another country’s engineering and design work to its purposes. Even though Russia is an ally, the Chinese consider themselves as rightfully doing what powerful countries do, which is entering into high levels of self-help despite the risk of angering its best trade partners.
Thus, the Su-35 purchase is more than fighter plane diplomacy. It is an example of how China will do anything to benefit its military. If it just takes more money to do it, then that is seen as a fair trade to acquire entire pieces of defense hardware and purchase the intricate levels of technology it can use on other systems.
The Su-35 deals will be replicated, and Russia is happy to oblige since it needs money from the export market at a time of international sanctions. China may never buy another Su-35, but it took those technologies to improve the PLAAF and PLAN, and that is the primary consideration when dealing with its allies.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for US Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former US Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
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