The Russian Air Force received a total of 43 warcraft in the past year, according to local papers.
TASS, citing a source close to the Russian Defence Ministry, revealed that the list included:
- 16 Su-34s, an all-weather supersonic fighter-bomber;
- 10 Su-35s, a new version of the super-maneuverable Su-27 fighters;
- 17 Su-30SMs, a variant of the Su-30MKI produced by Irkut Corp with upgrades in radar, communications, friend-or-foe identification, ejection seats, etc.
It also received six Yak-130s advanced jet trainers, which observers say they can be swiftly converted into light-attack and reconnaissance aircraft, plus a number of An-148 transport jets and modernized Il-76 strategic airlifters, according to the Moscow-based research institute Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade.
All up, the Russian Air Force – which maintains a fleet of over 4,000 aircraft, second only to the United States – got a further 57 fighters and jets.
Over the past decade, the Russian Air Force has received more than 500 planes and jets. To put things in perspective, that figure equals to the entire fleet of a medium-sized air force, like that of Spain or Australia.
China and the People’s Liberation Army Air Force never reveal changes to the size of its fleet, but the China-based military website Northern Defence said the force may have received around 100 aircraft in 2017.
But that does not mean the PLAAF is set to surpass its Russian counterpart in fleet size or conventional air combat capabilities.
Chinese experts have urged people to be rational when gauging the gap between the two forces, noting that the PLAAF still procures Su-35s, Su-30SMs, as well as the “fourth++ generation” jet fighter MiG-35s that just rolled off the assembly line by Russian warplane maker Mikoyan.
The Russian defense industry has been scraping by with tepid orders from home and abroad. Mikoyan, Sukhoi and other contractors only manufactured some 80 warplanes – but they have the capacity to build about 130 planes a year.
The good news for Moscow is that domestic and overseas orders for MiG-35s and other new and modernized models are gradually increasing for this year and beyond.
But their Chinese counterparts like Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corp, Shenyang Aircraft Corp and Chengdu Aerospace Corp, maker of the PLA’s fifth-generation super-fighter J-20, have limited capacities and have long been stretched by Beijing, which wants them to churn out more fighters and bombers.
There have been rumors that the Chengdu plant is lagging behind schedule in assembling J-20s since the fighter was officially deployed earlier last year.
More missions and flyovers also mean quicker wear and tear: the maintenance demand for squadrons of fighters, bombers and spy planes following the PLA’s bulked up blue-sea patrolling and stunts such as circumnavigating Taiwan also put pressure on the nation’s defense industry.
North Korea in its current form is US made with sanctions regime. 1970 the per capita income of North Korea was 3500 USD as compared to 240USD for South Korea and 700 USD for Japan. North Korea was the original Tiger economy and highly industrialised. Come sanctions regime and they became a hermit nation. They refuse to become slave to US.
Any country that has nuclear weapons, uses it as a deterrent. US is the only country that used it in an offensive. Present day nuclear weapons make the ones used on Japan look like toys.
Japanese want to trade. They have no natural resources but does value addition of the highest level. Unfoetunately they have US imposed on them. However they are sensible and intelligent enough to invest theor money in development of their people and infrastructure to the highest level. They tried domination and failed miserably. Now that they know an easier way, they do not want nuclear weapons. The Japanese people woild not allow it.
Tjshin Shine Chang China
Peter Chieng ,I am with you on this
Porferio A. Anino Jr
All emerging countries learn and copy from developed countries.. that’s a fact. Japan did It, Korea did it too.. the Americans espionage on Australia and UK and they are allies!
My argument is on how China is working on the world. One belt one road initiative is more than just economics. I strongly believe that China is using economics to control other countries instead of military. I may be wrong but we will have a clearer picture in a few years time.. by then it may be irreversible. The world is not coming to an end.. it is just a change of era.. it was the Egyptians many thousand of years Back, then China’s era and then the Europeans and then the Americans and now possibly China again..
Really? The world is closer to and end. China has no time to steal and copy western technology.
Wayne Yu Wai Ngok , i understand China keep copying and stesling US technology.
Tjshin Shine Chang, US come to SCS, why China did shoot them if China military is powerful. China only bullies small country like Philippines and the rest in SEA.
Thats true
روس اورچین اپنی لڑاکا جہازوں کو جدید تر بنانے میں لگے ہوےٗ ہیں ۔ پاکستانی حکومت کو اپنی لڑاکا ہوایٗ جہازوں کی ضرورت کو اپنے ملک کی انڈسٹریز میں پورا کرنا چاہیے ۔ آنے والا وقت میں جب دفاعی ہتھیاروں کا کاروبار کرنے والے ساہوکار اپنے شیطانی اعمال سے دنیا کے امن کو آگ لگا رہے اور امن کو جنگ میں تبدیل کررہے ہیں ۔ اس لیےٗ پاکستان دفاعی انڈسٹریزنہ صرف اپنی دفاعی ضروریات کو پورا کرے گی ۔ بلکہ سب سے زیادہ کاروباری لحاذ سے سود مند ہوگی ۔ ٹیکنالوجی کے لیےٗ روس اور چین سے معاھدے کیےٗ جا سکتے ہیں ۔ جے ۱۷چین پاکستان کی مشترکہ پیشکش ہے اور مقبول بھی ہویٗ ہے ۔ ہمیں ایف ۱۶ کی مد میں امریکی دھوکے بازیوں نے شدید پریشانیوں میں مبتلا کیا ہے ۔ بھارت کے سوا وہ کسی کو تیکنالوجی فراہم نہیں کرتا ۔ بلکہ پاکستان نے ان ہتھیاروں کی قابلیت کے بارے میں شکوک کا اظہار کردیا ہے یہ وقت پر ناکارہ ہوجاتے ہیں اورکام نہیں کرتے ۔
Akongato Akonga ۔۔in this contex we have da hardware u dont have..
we have better war think tanks then ur..
n in war so many things matters.war is not just planes
Actually even how many plane that China have and Russia still they don’t have vertical take off jet and also they don’t have B-52….
I am appalled with all the comments… China, Russia, USA. Be realistic…USA became a superpower after WW2 after taking some of the best minds to US from Germany.. but now China is catching up with the Chinese being educated in the West and going back to China to help advance the country. No other country has achieve what China achieve in 50 short years.. from a poor country to become the richest country now. In a few short decades, China will move ahead faster than any country due to its economy and the fact that Chinese companies are buying up foreign assets in all corners of the world, in thr very short future, everyone will be working in a company belonging to Chinese corporation. So… all the talks about who have better war machines is irrelevant now.. coz China is taking over the world without the need for war planes