China Type 054A Jiangkai II Class Missile Frigate

The Type 054A (NATO codename: Jiangkai-II Class) is the new-generation multirole missile frigate developed from the Type 054 (Jiangkai Class), incorporated with improved weapon systems and sensors. The frigate is being built by the Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard and Guangzhou-based Huangpu Shipyard, both part of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).

The Type 054A was designed primarily for air defence role, featuring a medium-range air defence missile system with a 32-cell vertical launch system (VLS) on the bow deck. The frigate is also capable of anti-surface strike with its YJ-83 anti-ship missiles.

Like the Type 054, the Type 054A incorporates a number of stealthy features in its hull design, including the sloped side to minimise radar cross section and the reduced profiles of external features. The helicopter deck at the stern has a single landing spot for a medium size helicopter, such as the Russian Kamov Ka-28 Helix, or the indigenous Harbin Z-9C. The deck is fitted with the helicopter handling system. The vessel has a full displacement of 4,500 tonnes.

The primary surface strike weapon system is the YJ-83 sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missile. Two quadruple launchers are installed at the mid-ship position. The missile uses active radar-homing to deliver a 165kg warhead to a range in excess of 180km.

The principal air defence weapon system is a 32-cell VLS developed by Luoyang Electro-Optics Technology Development Centre (EOTDC). The exact model of the air defence missile is unknown, but some reports have suggested that it may be the 38km-range Russian 9M317 (NATO codename: SA-N-12) Shtil semi-active radar-homing medium-range SAM, or its Chinese copy reportedly designated HongQi-16 (HQ-16).

A single-barrel 76mm gun (possibly Russian AK-176 copy) is installed on the bow deck, in front of the VLS.

The frigate is equipped with two Chinese indigenous Type 730 seven-barrel 30mm CIWS to provide short-range air defence. The Type 730 CIWS has a maximum rate of fire of 4,600~5,800 rounds/min and a maximum range of 3,000m. The gun is controlled by the Chinese-made TR47C fire-control radar and an electro-optic director, both mounted on the roof of the gun turret.

There are two Type 87 six-tube anti-submarine rocket launchers installed on the bow deck, with 36 rockets (240mm calibre, 34kg warhead). The maximum range is 1,200m.

The sensors of the Type 054A Jiangkai-II class are mainly Russian designs, produced either by licensed co-production or reverse-engineering of the systems obtained along with the Project 956 Sovremenny class missile destroyers.

The air search radar is a Fregat-MAE-5 (NATO reporting name: Top Plate) 3D air search radar mounted at the top of the front mast, offering two channels in E-band. The radar can track up to 40 targets simultaneously, and has a maximum range of 120km to aircraft and 50km to sea-skimming missile.

Four MR90 (NATO reporting name: Front Dome) F-band radars (two on top of the bridge, two on the roof of the helicopter hanger) provide guidance for the air defence missiles. Originally designed to provide fire-control for the 9M317/SA-N-7 Shtil SAM, each radar can provide two channels to guide two missiles simultaneously.

A large round radome installed on top of the bridge houses the Mineral-ME (NATO reporting name: Band Stand) radar that provides anti-ship missile control and over-the-horizon radar acquisition and target designation of surface ships.

The ship has three indigenous Type 347G I-band radars, two of which are integrated with the Type 730 CIWS to provide fire-control and a standalone radar is installed on top of the bridge behind the large round radome provides fire-control for the 76mm main gun.

There is also a large round radome mounted at the top of the rear mast, possibly housing a MR36 (Type 346?) surface search radar.

Type 052C Missile Destroyer

Two Type 052C (NATO codename: Luyang-II class) air defence guided missile destroyers have been built by Jiangnan Shipyard of Shanghai for the PLA Navy. Based on the hull design of the Type 052B (Luyang class) multirole destroyer, the Type 052C features an indigenously developed four-array multifunction phased array radar (PAR) similar to the Aegis AN/SPY-1 equipped by the U.S. Arleigh Burke class and Japanese Kongo class DDG. The ship is also armed with the indigenous HQ-9 air defence missile system, which is believed to be comparable to the Russian S-300F/Rif in performance, and the newly developed YingJi-62 (C-602) anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM).
A total of 48 indigenous HQ-9 air defence missiles are housed in eight 6-cell vertical launch systems (VLS). Unlike the Russian-style revolver VLS, the Type 052C’s VLS is fixed with each launch cell having its own lid. The missile system utilises the ‘cold launch’ method, in which the missile was first ejected from the launch tube, and then ignites its rocket engine at low altitude. This launch method avoids the complex flame and gas exhausting pipes on the Western-style ‘hot launch’ VLS, and also decreases damage to the ship structure caused by the rocket motor blast.
The surface-to-surface weapon of the Type 052C destroyer is the indigenously developed YJ-62 (C-602) ASCM. Unlike the previous YJ-8 series anti-ship missiles, which were all carried inside a box-shape launcher, the YJ-62 is carried inside a cylinder-shape launcher. A total of eight missiles (two 4-cell launchers) are located at the mid-ship position. The missiles are guided by the Band Stand radar installed on top of the bridge and a Light Bulb datalink forward of the hanger. The YJ-62 missile uses strap-down inertial guidance coupled with GPS, and active radar for the terminal phase. The missile has a stated range of 280km, with the missile flying at an altitude of 30m during the cruise phase of an engagement. In the terminal phase, the missile descends 7~10m. The active radar seeker has an acquisition range of up to 40km.
The Type 052C is fitted with four multifunction phased array radar antenna. The radar is reportedly developed by Nanjing Research Institute of Electronic Technology (also known as 14 Institute). There is also a Type 517H-1 (NATO codename: Knife Rest) long-range 2D air search radar; a Russian Band Stand fire-control radar (for anti-ship missile and main gun); and two Type 327G (EFR-1, NATO codename: Rice Lamp) fire control radar for the CIWS.

Yun - 8 Airborne Early Warning Aircraft

Following the introduction of the KJ-2000 AWACS and KJ-200 (Y-8 'Balance Beam’) AEW aircraft in 2001/02, a third Chinese AEW aircraft programme was revealed in 2005. Based on the Shaanxi Yun-8F400 airframe, the aircraft features a conventional rotodome mounted above the fuselage. Internet source photos showed that an example has been built, carrying serial number T0518. The exact status of the programme is unknown, but some sources suggested that the aircraft may have been aiming the export market.

Airborne electronic systems has been a focus of the PLA’s extensive military modernisation since the 1990s. In particular, AEW capability has been seen by the military as vital to obtain air superiority over the Taiwan Strait. The fact that the PLAAF is testing AEW/AWACS designs with different radar arrangements (rotodome, fixed dish radome phased array radar, and ‘balance beam’-style electronically scanned array radar) reflects its serious intention to develop a modernised AEW&C capability.

The Y-8F-400 was developed by Shaanxi in Aircraft Industry Corporation in 2001. The aircraft features a solid nose which replaced the Y-8’s original ‘glass-in’ nose design, and a three-man flight crew. All windows on the fuselage were removed. A pair of vertical stabilisers are fitted on the tips of the tail-plane to enhance directional stability.

Little is known about the performance of the radar system fitted on the new Y-8 AEW. It was estimated that the aircraft may be comparable to the U.S. E-2C Hawkeye in terms of performance and capabilities.(sinodefence)

March 29, 2009, New Delhi -- Supersonic BrahMos cruise missile Block II was tested today with a striking range of 290 km, successfully hit its target during a test at the Pokhran firing range today, DRDO officials said.

"The missile was successfully launched at 1115 hours in the morning and in the next two-and-a-half minutes, it hit the bull's eye in the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan," an official told reporters.

This was the third test-firing of the latest Block II version of the missile. During the test, Army's Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General A S Sekhon, Artillery School Commandant Lt Gen Rao and Additional Director General (Artillery) Major General V K Tiwari were present.

The launch of the latest land attack version of the missile being developed for the Army was also witnessed by DRDO's Chief Controller and BrahMos Aerospace Chairman A Sivathanu Pillai and DRDL Director P Venugopalan. After today's test, officials said the development phase of the Block II version of the missile was over and it was ready for induction in the Army. They said the mission objectives of the test were completely fulfilled. (India-defence)

NEW DELHI - India has bought a spy satellite from Israel with day-and-night viewing capability to boost surveillance capabilities in the aftermath of the Mumbai militant attacks, a report said March 20.

The satellite, which can see through clouds and carry out day-and-night all-weather imaging, has been one of the long-standing demands of the Indian military, the NDTV news channel said.

The 650-pound RISAT 2 will be launched by India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket in the next few weeks, the report said.

Indian scientists were in the process of integrating the satellite and the rocket at the Sriharikota space port in southern India, it said.

The acquisition was fast-tracked after the Nov. 26-29 Mumbai siege in which 10 gunmen went on a shooting spree.

India says the attackers came by boat from the Pakistani port city of Karachi to Mumbai, based on its investigations and the confession of the lone gunman captured alive after the 60-hour siege, in which 165 people were killed.

India's existing satellites get blinded at night and in the monsoon season.

NDTV said the new acquisition would also provide New Delhi with the capability to track incoming hostile ballistic missiles.

India treated Israel like a pariah for decades, but has forged close military links with Tel Aviv in recent years with the Jewish state replacing France in 2007 as its second-largest arms supplier after Russia.

China nuclear-powered missile submarine

The Type 094 (also referred to as Type 09-IV, NATO reporting name: Jin class) is the PLA Navy’s second-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), succeeding the Type 092 (Xia class) SSBN of a single hull commissioned in 1983. The Type 094 was designed by CSIC’s Wuhan 2nd Ship Design Institute (also known as 719 Institute) in Wuhan, Hubei Province and built by CSIC’s Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (previously known as Bohai Shipyard) in Huludao, Liaoning Province.

The Type 094 SSBN bears many similarities with the Type 093 Shang class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN), suggesting that the two submarines share the same design baseline. The submarine features a water-drop shape hull, with a pair of fin-mounted hydroplanes and four diving planes.

The dive displacement of the submarine was estimated to be 8,000~9,000 tonnes. The Type 094 has yet approached the performance and capability of modern Russian and Western SSBN designs, especially in quietness and missile number. However, once fully operational, it will offer the PLA Navy with a much more credible sea-based nuclear retaliation capability than that offered by its predecessor Type 092 Xia class.

The Type 094 has the capacity to carry 12 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). The Julang 2 SLBM designed and developed by CASIC 4th Academy is a three-stage, solid-propellant strategic ballistic missile. It is a derivation of the land-based DongFeng 31 (DF-31) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The maximum range of the JuLang 2 was estimated to be 7,000~8,000km, three times that of the first-generation JuLang 1 SLBM used by the Type 092.

Each JuLang 2 can carry a single thermalnuclear warhead of 25~1,000kt yield. Alternatively, the missile was said to be able to carry three or more 90kT multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV), though this cannot be confirmed.

The submarine has six 533mm bow torpedo tubes, and carries a total of 12 Yu-3 (SET-65E) torpedoes, which is equipped with both active and passive homing. The torpedo, with a 205kg warhead, has a maximum range of 15km and a top speed of 40kt. Alternatively, the submarine may carry wake-homing anti-surface torpedoes or wire-homing anti-submarine torpedoes.

The submarine is fitted with sophisticated sonar systems, including bow-mounted sonar and H/SQC-207 flank-mounted sonar. Three flank-mounted sonar arrays are clearly visible on the hull of the submarine.

Lockhead Air Defence Missile

March 25, 2009 -- A Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher successfully fired two Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) during a U.S. Army “common launcher” feasibility demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, NM. U.S. Army and industry representatives conducted the “proof of concept” firing to examine the viability of firing an air defense missile from the currently-fielded HIMARS.

The demonstration featured two modified AMRAAMs, which were rail-launched from a modified Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) enclosure assembly launch pod mounted on a HIMARS launcher. The test, in which all objectives were met, included the operational test missiles (configured from excess AMRAAM assets); integration of modified Surfaced Launched AMRAAM launch rails into an empty ATACMS pod; and the launch of the AMRAAMs using the HIMARS fire control system with modified software.

The Army is evaluating HIMARS as a potential solution for a light “common launcher” for future air defense, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System and ATACMS munitions. In addition to its capability to support multi-mission munitions, the HIMARS launcher offers tactical flexibility, high reliability and C-130 transportability.

“We’re looking at the idea of a ‘common launcher,’” said Col. Dave Rice, U.S Army Project Manager, Precision Fires Rocket & Missile Systems. “We’re looking at HIMARS because it is already in the force, it’s very deployable, it’s a great platform to be a common launcher, and we’ve now shown it can successfully fire air defense missiles.”

The U.S. Army’s Air Defense Artillery and Field Artillery branch schools are now consolidated under a single Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, OK, resulting in areas of commonality between the two combat arms branches. The “common launcher” concept is one example where both air defense artillery and field artillery operational needs are jointly addressed.

“We believe this test firing shows that HIMARS is a feasible ‘common launcher’ candidate,” said Scott Arnold, vice president for Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “We’ve shown we can effectively modify the onboard fire control software and successfully fire air defense missiles from this reliable and deployable system that is already in the hands of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.”

The demonstration was a coordinated effort between the U.S. Army Program Executive Office Missiles and Space, Precision Fires Rocket and Missile Systems, Cruise Missile Defense Systems, Prototype Integration Facility, Raytheon Missile Systems and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. (India-Defence)

JMSDF commissions helicopter carrier

Tokyo this week commissioned the first in a new class of 'helicopter-carrying destroyers' that will greatly increase the range and power of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force. The new 1,3950 ton ship, JS Hyuga, has a 195-meter full-length flight deck and can carry up to 11 helicopters.

The 'helicopter-carrying destroyer' is a name that allows the JMSDF to stretch the country's declared pacifist position. Tokyo takes the position that Japan cannot possess an offensive aircraft carrier due to the country's constitution.

According to the JMSDF, the Hyuga class is not an aircraft carrier although analysts speculate that the size of the ships would mean that they potentially could be used with some types of aircraft.

At a ceremony at IHI Marine United's shipyard in Yokohama, Parliamentary Defence Secretary Ryota Takeda handed the JMSDF's rising sun ensign to the Captain Katsunori Yamada, to mark the comissioning of the vessel. 'I recognize that people's expectations for the Hyuga are high,' Capt Yamada told reporters after the event.

The ship then headed to the JMSDF base in Yokosuka where it will become the flagship for the force's 1st Escort Flotilla. As well as its helicopter capability the new Hyuga class also has a sophisticated command, control and communications system allowing it to act as a task force command centre.

The second Hyuga class destroyer is to be commissioned in March 2011.
(www.asianmilitaryreview.com)

type071 Landing Platform Dock

The type 071 is the largest china PLAN LPD with an estimated full displacement 0f 17,000~20,000 tonnes.can carry a marine corps battalion, including 500~800 troops, 15~20 amphibious armoured vehicles and their associated logistic supples.A large helicopter flight deck at the stern is enough to support the operation of two medium size helicopters such as Z-8 and russian Ka-29.

The ship is equipped with a single-barrel 76mm main gun, which appears to be a copy of the Russian AK-176. The gun is located on the bow deck. There are four Russian-built AK-630 close-in weapon systems (CIWS).The ship is also equipped with four 50-tube 120mm multi-purpose rocket launchers, which could provide large area firepower against shore targets.

KJ-2000

Kong Jing 2000(KJ-2000) is the first airborne warning and control system(AWACS) in service with the China People Liberation Army(PLA) air force
source:www.meyet.com

Here are photos taken from onboard the Chinese vessels involved in the recent naval dispute between the U.S. Navy acoustic research ship USNS Impeccable and five Chinese vessels in the South China Sea. They were posted on the Chinese Internet.

Where I have no intention to discuss the legality of the claims by either side, it is worth noting that the incident took place about 75 miles south of Sanya in Hainan Island, where a major Chinese naval base is located. In addition to surface combatants and conventional submarines, the base is said to be home to a Type 094 Jin class SSBN. You can see why the PLA Navy is feeling a little bit nervous about Impeccable's operation there.

Russia’s Voronezh Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine at Zvezdochka Shipyards for Planned Modernization

The Russian Project 949A (Antey) nuclear ballistic missile submarine Voronezh of the Northern Fleet has reached the water area of the Zvezdochka shipyards, where it will undergo modernization, the press service of Zvezdochka has announced.

The ship, which was built here in Severodvinsk at the Sevmash Shipbuilding Factory in 1988, will be examined to determine the amount of work needed for its modernization. As expected, thorough modernization of Antey-, Granit-, and Bars-type warships will begin at Zvezdochka in 2010. Therefore, what is being done at this stage is preparing the shipyards for such future work.

In addition to the Zvezdochka, the strategic missile sub Novomoskovsk of the Northern Fleet will likewise undergo repairs and modernization at Zvezdochka. Construction of the Novomoskovsk immediately began after that of the strategic missile submarine Karelia, which was subsequently moved to Zvezdochka on November 22, 2008.

Work on the warship should be completed by 2010, according to plans. It will be the sixth Delphin-class Project 667DRM submarine to undergo modernization at Zvezdochka. The others are the Verkhoturye, Ekaterinburg, Tula, and Bryansk. The service life of these ships was extended by 10 years as a result of such modernization. The strategic missile submarine Karelia should return to combat duty in the Northern Fleet by the end of this year, according to plans.

The Novomoskovsk was also built at the Sevmash Shipbuilding Factory, and it joined the combat group of the Russian Navy in 1990. These submarines can still serve for a long time in the Russian Navy as the cornerstone of Russia’s naval nuclear shield, according to experts.

On December 27, 2000, the crew of the Novomoskovsk, under the command of Captain First Class Alexander Moiseev, successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea. The launch was performed from under water and was meant to assess the combat readiness of Russia’s Nuclear Strategic Forces. The submarine in 1991 performed an underwater launch of all of its six ballistic missiles simultaneously, a first in the world.

And in March 2004, the crew of the Novomoskovsk, under the command of Captain First Class Sergei Rachuk (subsequently awarded the title of Hero of Russia), performed a successful experimental underwater launch of a ballistic missile form the Barents Sea.
Source: Krasnaya Zvezda, author: Sergei Vasiliev, photo by Boris Serdiuk, Translation: RusNavy.com)

LONDON - Britain's Ministry of Defence is to extend a UAV-by-the-hour deal with Thales UK that provides the military in Afghanistan with key intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities.

Company officials attending an engineering and science event here March 11 confirmed that they are close to completing arrangements for the ISTAR deal to run through to the in-service date of the British Army's Watchkeeper UAV system scheduled for 2011.

Thales has been providing the service for British forces since mid-2007 to help plug a gap in British ISTAR capabilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under an urgent operational requirement deal with the MoD, Thales provides the Elbit Hermes 450 tactical UAV, contractor logistics support and program management services. It also trains the military in the use and maintenance of the system.

The UAV-by-the-hour service has drawn considerable attention from Canada, France and other NATO nations that need similarly rapid hikes in ISTAR capabilities.

To date, the Hermes 450s have flown more than 18,000 hours for the British in the two operational theaters, a Thales UK spokeswomen said.

The original two-year deal was expected to be worth around 60 million pounds ($83 million), much of that going to UAV provider Elbit.

British forces are likely to pull out of Iraq later this year and it remains unclear whether the UAVs in that theater will be switched to bolster capabilities in Afghanistan.

MoD officials at the event declined to discuss the ISTAR plans, citing operational security issues.

The British arm of Thales was selected in 2005 as the winner of the 900 million-pound Watchkeeper program.

Based on a much-modified version of the Hermes 450, the first platform and associated ground segment equipment is scheduled to be delivered to the Army here in October 2010 and enter service a few months later.

The platform is currently undergoing flight testing in Israeli prior to transitioning to Britain in the fourth quarter of this year to begin U.K. eyes-only tests on sensitive equipment such as the radar and datalink. (defencenews)

US-China naval dispute

TAIPEI – The U.S released 12 P-3C Orion anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrol aircraft March 13 to Taiwan when the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced a $665 million firm-fixed-price contract award to Lockheed Martin, Maritime Systems and Sensors Tactical Systems, under the Foreign Military Sales program.

The award includes the procurement of phased depot maintenance, structural service life extension, and avionics modification on 12 P-3 aircraft.

Work will be performed in the U.S. and be completed in August 2015. The Maryland-based U.S. Naval Air Systems Command was the contracting activity.

The P-3 award follows the DSCA announcement in October for a $6.4 billion arms package that enraged China. Beijing retaliated by discontinuing military-to-military exchanges with the U.S., now restarted with the Obama administration.

The October package included an E-2 Hawkeye aircraft upgrade, 30 AH-64D Block III Apache Longbow attack helicopters, 330 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles, 32 UGM-84L sub-launched Harpoon Block II missiles, spare parts for F-5E/F, C-130H, F-16A/B and the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), and 182 Javelin guided missile anti-tank rounds. Missing from the list was a submarine design study and 60 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters.

The P-3s and the October arms package release were part of the Bush administration's April 2001 arms deal to Taiwan that included eight submarines, now on hold. The Bush offer became a nightmare when members of Taiwan's legislature refused to approve budget requests and turned the deal into a political football.

The issue was resolved in early 2008 when the Beijing-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) unseated the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in presidential and legislative elections.

However, the long-delayed arms deal resulted in even more delays for other items, some going back a decade. Deferred procurements, or wish-list items, include four Aegis-equipped destroyers, M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), AGM-88 HARM (High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile) anti-radiation missiles, and 66 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighter aircraft. Taiwan has also been discussing the idea of procuring F-35 fighters when and if they become available.

Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), is reportedly preparing to renew pressure on releasing F-16s.

Taiwan's fighter inventory includes 146 F-16A/B Block 20, 128 Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF), 56 Mirage 2000-5s and roughly 60 aging F-5s. There is a pressing need to replace the F-5s to maintain its current air power capability.

The U.S. is the last country selling arms to Taiwan. Due to Chinese pressure, Europe and Israel discontinued arms sales to Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s, and a French sale of Mirage fighter aircraft and Lafayette frigates in the 1990s resulted in a disastrous corruption scandal that ended all future arms from Paris.

In the past 10 years, Taiwan's indigenous arms industry has wilted in favor of reliable and tested U.S. arms. The result is a narrow non-competitive choice for arms from the U.S. that could now face an end as Chinese pressure on Washington grows.

Questions remain regarding the direction the new Obama administration policy will take on Taiwan. Economic and diplomatic pressure from Beijing will no doubt continue to influence Washington. A U.S. government source said China successfully pressured Washington to freeze arms sales to Taiwan in 2007 and 2008. It was not until intense lobbying by pro-Taiwan advocates in Washington that the Bush administration released the October arms deal.

With China holding $1.9 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and Washington asking Beijing to buy even more U.S. debt, there are concerns Obama's pending Taiwan policy will favor no arms in the future.

March 10, 2009, Moscow -- Russia has refused to sell its Su-33 carrier-based fighters to China over fears that Beijing could produce cheaper export versions of the aircraft, a Russian daily said on Tuesday.

The Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper said that China and Russia had been in negotiations on the sale of 50 of the Su-33 Flanker-D fighters, to be used on future Chinese aircraft carriers, since 2006, but that the talks collapsed recently over China's request for an initial delivery of two aircraft for a "trial."

Russian Defense Ministry sources confirmed that the refusal was due to findings that China had produced its own copycat version of the Su-27SK fighter jet in violation of intellectual property agreements.

In 1995, China secured a $2.5-billion production license from Russia to build 200 Su-27SKs, dubbed J-11A, at the Shenyang Aircraft Corp.

The deal required the aircraft to be outfitted with Russian avionics, radars and engines. Russia cancelled the arrangement in 2006 after it discovered that China was developing an indigenous version, J-11B, with Chinese avionics and systems. The decision came after China had already produced 95 aircraft.

This time, Russia refused the Chinese offer even after Beijing had offered to buy 14 Su-33 aircraft, saying that at least 24 jets should be sold to recoup production costs.

However, the Moskovsky Komsomolets said that the Su-33 deal may be reviewed later because China desperately needs carrier-based aircraft to equip its first indigenous 48,000-ton aircraft carrier, due to be built by 2011. Beijing has also announced plans to build a nuclear-powered aircraft-carrier by 2020.

Chinese media recently quoted China fleet commander Adm. Xu Hongmeng as saying: "China will very soon have its own aircraft carrier."

The Su-33 is a carrier-based multi-role fighter, which can perform a variety of air superiority, fleet defense, air support and reconnaissance missions. The aircraft entered service with the Russian Navy in 1995 and are currently deployed on board the Nikolai Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.

Russian Su-33 naval fighters are significantly cheaper than any similar foreign models, such as the French Rafale-M, or the U.S F-35C or the F/A-22N Sea Raptor. (RIA Novosti)