Russia is set to deliver its first batch of four advanced Su-35 fighters to China later this year, officials from both countries who attended the Airshow China 2016 jointly announced, as reported by the Financial Times.

"We are now fulfilling the contract," Vladimir Drozhzhov, deputy director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Co-operation, said referring to the agreement signed last November 2015.

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The Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production plant will deliver 24 Su-35 combat fighter jets to China worth at least $2 billion, the Next Big Future noted. The first four will be completed within the year, while the rest is expected to be delivered over the next three years.

Chinese pilots are already in Russia to train with the aircraft and will eventually fly back to the mainland, the Financial Times reported citing Russian news reports.

Following the recent Su-35 deal as well as the 2014 sale agreement of Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile, it seems that Russia has lifted its informal ban to sell advanced systems to China in place more than a decade ago.

The deals are "a clear sign that China is back as one of Russia's top arms importers," Vasily Kashin, an expert on China's arms industry at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, told the Financial Times.

Meanwhile, Drozhzhov also noted China's signed agreement to protect Russia's intellectual property onboard the Su-35. In the previous years, China reverse engineered older versions of the Flanker into the Shenyang J-11, J-15, and J-16 series jets, the National Interest noted.

"We established a Russian-Chinese working group for the purposes of practical implementation of this agreement, which held a regular meeting in September this year," Drozhzhov said.

The Su-35 is a fourth++ generation, twin-engine, multirole fighter jet equipped with two AL-117S turbofan engines. Russia's power turbofan engine is pointed as likely the reason for China's interest in acquiring the Su-35 fighters. 

TagsSu-35, Su-35 fighter jets, Su-35 Fighter Jets China, Russia, Fighter Jets, Airshow China 2016