China To Become World’s Top Fighter Jet Exporter soon

According to Russian military news report, China will move up from its current status as the world’s number three exporter of fighter jets to the top spot in unit sales within the next three years. China has booked orders for 112 fighter jets for overseas customers to be delivered between 2012 and 2015. During the same period, U.S. will export 110 fighters while Russia will come in third place with 109 deliveries. In terms of the dollar value of fighter jet sales, the U.S. is likely to remain on top.

The famous F-35 fighter jet which made by the U.S. are estimated to cost about $156 million apiece over the life of its production run while the F-16 has been priced at around $165 million. The Chinese and Russia fighters are priced considerably less in order to be competitive. The aging J-7 fighter was China’s staple export fighter during the Cold War era, with sales of about 500 mainly to middle-east countries and North Korea. The J-10 is made entirely from domestically sourced components. In future, China will redesign its advanced J-10 fighters as multirole combat aircraft and sell them to more developing nations for a cheaper price.

Competition has been heating up between Russia and China, which was once its top customer. After China sold a number of fighter jet to Pakistan, a leading client for fighter exports, Russia stopped providing China with the engines used in that fighter in order to prevent China from taking over its market. We believe this will not stop the cheap China fighter jet to continue dominate the military world.