In 2015, China acquired a batch of Su-35 fighters with AL-41F1S engines from Russia. China's industry attempted to copy the power plant technologies, but the level of complexity proved too high, reported the National Security Journal.
The publication's analysts explained that the engines are extremely complex – it would take a very long time to subject them to so-called reverse engineering. Therefore, the Su-35s were sent to reinforce the Air Force.
Recall that China purchased a total of 24 Su-35 fighters under the 2015 contract. All aircraft were delivered by the end of 2018. Since each Su-35 has two engines, China received at least 48 engines for "reverse engineering."
Ivan Grachev, chief researcher at the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also spoke about the problem of copying in China. According to him, China is now competing with Russia in third countries for the sale of fighters.
