You seems not to know how military works? You simply think the old Su-33 airframe just get a radar switch and magically it can work without going trial and test of more prototype. don't tell me all this dont involved money? Definitely the airframe need to be updated to handle air to ground capabilities, newer material that works better.
Your ignorance amazes me.
Finally, I think I do not remind you, it will be cheaper to operate an updated aircraft which development fee already paid by some one and just built more airframe for its own existing carrier. Plus all the required maintenance fee Russian needed for their Mig-29K shall also be paid under the development fee from India.
First of all, MiG-29K was already modified enough to sustain carrier-based take off & landing with a meaningful weapon payload much before India ordered that plane. Here's a pic of one of the first -29K prototypes undergoing flight tests on Kuznetsov in the Soviet Union days -
MiG-29K Testing
Pity, isn't it? You think India funded MiG-29K development? Truth is that MiG-29K was already developed by 1991, without any Indian funding or contribution in any way.
India only paid for the 45 x MiG-29Ks that Indian Navy ordered for INS Vikramaditya (ex-Gorshkov) and new INS Vikrant (IAC-1), and some for maritime strike roles.
Secondly, India does not pay for any MiG-29K ordered by the Russian Navy, Russian govt. does that. India does not pay for Russian Navy's maintenance fee either, what rubbish are you talking?
All that India has done, is to select the MiG-29K over the Su-33 after a careful analysis of which plane would be a better bet for carrier-based operations. Obviously MiG-29K emerged as a better proposition in the overall when compared to Su-33.
Now what happended is that when India ordered 16+29 MiG-29Ks, the MiG production line for this plane was activated, therefore even Russia was now free to order MiG-29K, which they always wanted to do but could not because ordering a new plane and changing all the maintenance & logistics lines would be quite costly.
I know what I am talking about. If you can't accept the reality Russia will be happier accepting updated Su-33 if money is not a problem so be it.
You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
At one point, you say Russia could not buy MiG-29K because it was too costly, and that India had paid for development of -29K, so now Russia too is ordering -29K because cost burden has reduced.
At another point, you say that maintaining/modifying Su-33 is more costly that's why Russia is buying -29K.
What is your point? If Su-33 is bad, so is J-15.
Is there any performance-related thing that
J-15 can do that Su-33 cannot? Anything?