Why is no one buying modern Chinese fighter jets?

This video goes in depth on the woes of Chinese fighter jets on the export market. Why aren't they really selling? Will that change soon? The newest chinese fighter jets are covered, as well as the older models. Watch the video to find out more.

Images used in thumbnail :

[tarotaro]

The main reason is majority the buyer in the world are adapted to either the Russian system or the U.S system. If you want to buy the Chinese jet, it is not only the jet, you will have to replace your whole system such as link etc. etc.

[LXHFIRENKING]

Another reason why J-10 did not sell: for the first 10 year the J-10 entered service, the PLAAF still had a huge fleet of obsolete J-7 and J-8 to replace domestically, and production facility had a hard time even meeting domestic demand.

[ryzlot]

Excellent content, research and production values

JR

[midgetydeath]

Stealth fighters with features that magnify radar cross-section. Brilliant.

[ruicorreia]

Imagine buying equipment from the guy you know your going to fight soon™

[jyralnadreth]

Argentina has the problem of an outdated air force and Britain banning any sales of any equipment built in Britain. Ejector seats was a recent issue for the Argentine Air Force on a recent attempt to update their Aircraft

[JohnDoe-qpsj]

Chinese aircrafts are designed to operate under water also in a major war. The pilot can press the wrong button nearby with same color.

[lightbox]

The MIG 21 was a wonderful plane. I worked with a guy who was an Afghani who went to Russia to join the Airforce while his brother, an Hydrologist, went to America.. He had only good things to say about the craft.

[raywhitehead]

High end jet engine tech, is very pushing the limits of design and research..for example only recently the Brits and the Japanese announced an agreement to co-produce the engine to go into the newest British fighter, the Tempest.both countries hope to produce a gen 6. Want to have an interesting and challenging career, get into jet engine development.

[antonhei]

It's not only politics, quality and capability. It's the experience of local techinicians with the technology, costumer support, weapon systems availabilty and price, and spares. Mirage 2000s bought in the 80s are still flying at home, while Mig 29 bought in the 90s and 00s are already in storage.

[wallerwolf]

As always, well researched and extensive. Thanks for that! Hardly anything has changed in the meantime, the tensions between the blocs have increased enormously.

[umarchaudhry]

Thanks for breaking this highly nuanced topic into bite size chunks for us. Very well researched Binkov.

[slashd]

1:45 “Now back to the soothing sound of jet engines” That was a smooth transition 🤣

[GH-xtdf]

Because military industry in China is state owned, which means the top priority of enterprises in this industry is to meet the needs of Chinese armed forces, if export is needed as demanded by Beijing, they will.

[amazingstealth]

Resumed: Countries will prefer to buy military equipment from either the west or from Russia and not from China, because China lacks international political ties good enough to have a customer base as great as the western or Russian one.

And it makes sense. I used to read comments where people discussed what aircrafts should their country acquire, and it was so stupid seeing people think that a country with mostly only US equipment should buy Russian or Chinese planes now, saying about "iT PeRfORmS BeTTeR aND iS MoRE mAneUvEraBLe aND CheApeR", completely ignoring the political side of buying weaponry.

I will put an example as a hypothetical situation with my own country: Chile. If we compare the capabilities of the Su-30 and the F-15EX, we can say that the Russian plane has excelent firepower and maneuverability, while the F-15EX has an incredibly tough construction/design and has amazing mission survivality (along with the impressive combat air-to-air records of the original Eagle). In the case of a competition to select a fighter jet to complement our current fleets, it seems like the Sukhoi might be a better option because of a lower price and high firepower. But then remember that Chile has been buying western weaponry since the beggining of the Air Force. First with british planes, passing through some french ones, some tech from Israel, Brazilian light attack planes, and right now we have US-made F-5E/Fs and F-16s. Politically, we have way better relations with western countries and specially with the US. And that's more than enough to throw the Su-30 alternative out of the window and stay with the F-15EX.

[brianh]

I think it is the whole package of services that go along with the purchase of the aircraft - support, parts, logistics, training, etc. In the case of the U.S. airforce you have a lot more pilots with actual combat experience who can help train new pilots. China can sell the hardware cheap but the package that comes along with it is not as attractive.

[reneestevez]

I have wanted J-10's in service with the Peruvian AF but after learning this about lack of parts I simply don't harbor the idea anymore.

[valianttmt]

Lately, seeing a “Made in China” tag has turned a lot of people away.

[icebearliu]

Another point, AF is getting increasingly expensive for many countries. On the other hand, CN sell much more UAV/drones, which is much more affordable, consumable and replaceable.

[tvgerbil]

Aerospace is their most important strategic industry. If they fail to sell a single plane to outside world, the Chinese will subsidize it to the hilt to keep it going. Self sufficiency is more important to them than monetary return at this stage of their development.