Su-27 is the third generation of heavy fighters personally operated by Simonov, its research and development background is to benchmark the world's most advanced US F-15 fighter at that time, the combat radius of the Su-27 reached 1200 kilometers, ultra-long air lag time and large-scale activity capabilities, is undoubtedly one of the world's most peak fighters at that time, and a series of characteristics of the Su-27 just in line with the original intention of the Chinese military to introduce foreign fighters at that time.
In 1988, China and Vietnam broke out the "3.14 Naval Battle", this time China won a complete victory at the cost of 1 person slightly injured, recovered 6 islands and reefs, and just when the whole country was immersed in the joy of victory, the Chinese Air Force launched an emergency project - the "883" project with a tense situation.
The main content of the "883" project was to increase the range of the fuel tank of the J-8 II fighter at that time. It turned out that the mainland in the Sino-Vietnamese Naval War could have seized greater victories, but the legs of the "Eight Masters" were too short, and if the navy could be covered farther, it would not only be a problem of 6 islands and reefs, but also the huge shortcomings of the mainland air force at that time were exposed in the First World War.
What makes the Chinese military even more impressive is that looking around the world's top military forces, the J-8 was designed against the Soviet Union's second-generation fighters, mainly the MiG-23 and Su-24, and when the J-8 was not yet fully popularized, the soviet Union and the Third Generation fighters of the United States had completed the replacement, and even Taiwan Province also received orders for 120 F16s and 60 Mirage 2000s in the late 80s.
F16 who came to Perform in China
The strategic urgency is self-evident, so the Chinese military is ready to introduce advanced foreign fighters to quickly meet the air force's more complex and diverse combat tasks.
But the process of buying a third-generation fighter was a one-size-fits-all.
The fundamental reason is no money, around the 90s, China's economy can be imagined, want to buy from abroad can be called "national treasure" of the third generation of fighters, this price is very terrible, at that time China's export foreign exchange earning means is not much smarter than the current Africa, almost all agricultural products and minerals, which gave the military a lot of pressure, the purchase of three generations of fighters must "spend small money to do big things."
However, the third generation of fighters is not money can be bought, but also to take into account the strategic situation between countries, just when the Chinese military with a small amount of military funds to look for sellers, the Soviet Union came good news, Gorbachev visited China in 1989, China and the Soviet Union officially ended many years of confrontation, and brought the intention of arms trading.
At this time, Gorbachev's reform failed, the declining Soviet Union has gradually been unable to support the huge army weapons and equipment, began to seek to sell weapons and equipment to earn foreign exchange, the intentions of China and the Soviet Union in the third-generation fighter coincided, on May 31, 1990, the Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Liu Huaqing led a delegation to visit Moscow, officially began negotiations for the introduction of third-generation fighters.
At that time, the soviet union's third-generation fighters had MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters, and China's fighters imported from the Soviet Union ranged from the MiG-15 to miG-17, and from the MiG-19 to the MiG-21, so in the soviet view, China's purchase of the MiG-29 was in the same vein, and as for the Su-27, the combat radius of the Su-27 was too large, so the Soviet side began to sell the MiG-29 to the Chinese delegation.
MiG 29
The Chinese delegation is not unseen, the Soviet Union's Su-27 shined at the Paris International Air Show in June 1989, and more importantly, the Su-27 ultra-long cruising radius is urgently needed by China, and the MiG-29 as a light fighter, is jokingly called "airfield defender", the combat radius is about 600 kilometers, the Su-27 uses an analog electrical conduction operating system, and the MiG-29 is a backward hydraulic operation, this comparison, who to buy has been very clear.
A blockbuster Sue 27 at the Paris Air Show
When China expressed its insistence on buying the Su-27, the negotiations immediately reached an impasse, the Soviet Union said that it would only sell the MiG-29, but seeing that China's attitude was so firm, the Soviet Side also began to waver, the Soviet Union in 1990 was no longer a monolith, almost began to separate the family, and the Sukhoi Design Bureau that designed the Su-27 almost collapsed due to lack of orders, and under pressure from many parties, the Soviet Union finally made concessions before the Chinese representatives prepared to return home:
Approve in principle to sell Su-27 to China!
After the Chinese and Soviet sides reached an agreement, it was agreed that the Soviet Union would send representatives to Beijing to negotiate the price, and the negotiations would be presided over by Air Force Lieutenant General Lin Hu.
The choice of General Lin Hu is also considered, because the Soviet Union has always had the "Uskinov Law" of bargaining on wine, that is, drinking the other party at the wine table before negotiating to get the initiative in negotiations, don't look at this method is somewhat "clumsy", but once the negotiation teams including India and Vietnam overturned, and its reputation spread throughout eurasia, and General Lin Hu was of mixed Chinese and Russian descent, not only excellent negotiation ability, but also the "basic skills" of drinking were also very solid.
Obviously, the Soviet delegation came to Beijing this time to use "martial drinking" to overwhelm the Chinese negotiators, and the Soviet delegation directly arranged a total of 17 officers at the wine table, and General Lin Hu immediately made a correct judgment when he saw this posture, hurriedly found helpers, and temporarily transferred a strange person from the navy of the Beijing Military Region, that is, a mysterious soldier who was later known as the "wine colonel."
At the wine table, I only saw this "colonel in wine" wearing the uniform of the air force colonel taking turns to "drink" with the Soviet delegation, and the wine in the glass in front of him was like boiled water.
The effect of defeating the Soviet Union with the negotiation method that the Soviet Union was good at was self-evident, and the price of the Su-27 was finalized at a unit price of $30 million. The F15 was priced at $55 million a year, and the French Mirage 2000 fighter was priced at $60 million.
As for the legendary "Wine Colonel", why can he do a thousand cups without getting drunk?
Alcohol in the human body will be decomposed into acetaldehyde by ethanol dehydrogenase, and acetaldehyde will be metabolized by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, these two enzymes lack any of them can not come down to the wine table, the role of ethanol paralyzes the nerves, and acetaldehyde is the reason why people who drink wine on the face should not drink more, that is, the content of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in the body is small, if these two enzymes are secreted in the body to a certain extent, they can reproduce the power of "wine colonel".
But unfortunately, the secretion of these two enzymes is determined by birth, that is to say, how much can be drunk is inherently doomed, as for the amount of alcohol practiced, it is only the body's tolerance to ethanol and acetaldehyde that increases, and it hurts the body more.