Russian Air Force can't do without China! The former Prime Minister of Ukraine said that 85% of the tires for Su-35 fighter jets come from China.
Recently, the former Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Kirill Shevchenko, somehow obtained a set of data, claiming that the aviation tires used by Russia's current main combat aircraft, including the Su-34 and Su-35, are as high as 85% sourced from China.
He stated that in 2024 alone, Russia imported products worth $60 million from China, including not only finished tires but also key raw materials such as aramid fiber and special rubber necessary for tire production.
However, the reality is that many high-tech components and basic materials, such as aerospace-grade rubber, aramid fiber used to enhance tire blast resistance, and CNC machines and micro-electronic control systems used to produce these parts, have far insufficient domestic production capacity in Russia.
Due to Western manufacturers' firm withdrawal from Russia, China has just filled this gap. Moreover, China has formed a complete industrial chain in fields such as chemical synthetic materials, special rubbers, and industrial machine tools.
Aramid fiber was previously monopolized by American DuPont and Japanese Teijin, but in recent years, Chinese enterprises have achieved technological breakthroughs in this field, with rapid expansion of production capacity and more competitive prices. This makes Russia naturally turn its procurement focus to the East when facing Western supply cuts.
In addition, many Russian aviation component factories have also imported large quantities of Chinese CNC machines, sensors, power modules, and other equipment and components. These seemingly "non-lethal" industrial products are the foundation for maintaining aircraft production lines. Without high-precision machine tools, it is impossible to process landing gear components that meet aviation standards; without stable micro-electronic supplies, even the most basic avionics testing would be difficult to carry out.
Previously, Shenyang Machine Tool Group was losing millions, but now it is making millions in profits. Behind this is Europe handing over the market. It's really hard to say whether we should thank Europe or blame them.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1850904166342857/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.