Russia completed the delivery of twenty-four Su-35S fighter jets to China. The contract was estimated to be around $ 2.5 billion. This procurement had led the United States to impose sanctions on China in September 2018.
The announcement was made by the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) to TASS on April 16, 2019. With this order, China had become the first customer of the latest Russian-made fighter jet in 2015. The aircraft entered service within China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in 2018. The agreement also included a supply of ground equipment and backup engines. Those should all be delivered by the end of 2020, according to a source quoted by Jane’s.
The contract was honored despite the sanctions of the United States. In September 2018, U.S. State Department had announced it would impose sanctions on China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD), the military procurement agency of the country, for interacting with the Russian defense conglomerate Rostec. The EED is now blocked from applying for U.S. export licenses. Similarly, several Russian people and entities were added to a blacklist under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was enforced following Russia’s involvement in Ukraine and Syria.
The Sukhoi Su-35 is a Russian multi-role fighter. It was created to increase the offensive capabilities of the Su-27 while giving it the ability to destroy both air and surface targets.