Published: 12/12/1997

On 30 November Mikoyan test pilot Marat Alykov made the first public flight of the MiG-29SMT tactical fighter. After some 30 minutes in the air, Aircraft 917 safely landed at the Gromov Flight Test and Research Institute airfield at Zhukovsky. Apparently a re-build of a series-production airframe, the Aircraft 917 features an improved radar capable of terrain-mapping and a new cockpit with two liquid-crystal colour displays in place of dial instruments. Also, 917 has bigger fuel tanks, increasing the combat radius from 2,900 to 3,500km. The new cockpit from the Russian Avionics company is rumoured to be a standard for new fighters both from the Mikoyan and Sukhoi design offices. It is believed, therefore, that Aircraft 917 will be used as an avionics and weapons testbed/demonstator for a new basic model with a thrust-vectoring system, the MiG-35. Reportedly, the installation of the new cockpit will save 900kg. According to Mikoyan, more than 1,300 MiG-29s have been built since 1983, when the type became operational. Early-version MiG-29s are known to have three major weaknesses. These are limited combat radius (1,500-2,100km), low weapons load (2 tonnes) and the absence of multi-target engage capability (in the case of the H019 radar). In an effort to eliminate the shortcomings, Mikoyan developed the MiG-29M, a major modification of the basic model. The plane carries the Phazatron 0010 radar with true multi-target capability and has no upper air intakes for take-off and landing regimes. It also has a bigger fuel capacity. Sadly for Mikoyan, financial problems have not allowed it to complete MiG-29M development. Alongside the ill-fated MiG-29M project, Mikoyan has been upgrading its production models. Today, the aircraft is available for export in two major versions, the MiG-29SE specialising in air-to-air missions and the MiG-29SM multi-role tactical fighter with extended ground-attack capability. Both the SE and SM can carry a 4 tonne weapons load, and are capable of 9g sustained turns. The latest SM model carries the Kh-31A anti-ship and Kh-31P anti-radar missiles, as well as KAB-500KR TV-guided bombs and Kh-29T air-to-surface missiles. In parallel with improving its on-the-line airframes, Mikoyan also undertakes the upgrade of older MiG-29s sold overseas. In October, the Malaysian Air Force and the manufacturer signed a $34.44m contract for modification of the 18 MiGs sold two years ago for $560m. The most important modification for the Malaysian aircraft is that they are to have in-flight re-fuelling systems and the Topaz H019M radar, which is able to engage two targets simultaneously with Vympel RV-AEE missiles. Mikoyan continues working on the MiG-35, hoping the plane will be the company's "face" in the beginning of the 21st century. It will have the Phazatron RP-35 radar with active phased-array antenna instead of the 0010's slotted one on the MiG-29M. In comparison with the 0010, the RP-35 has a range of 140km instead of 80km, tracks 24 targets instead of ten and shoots at four targets instead of two. (DF1297.3) (VK)

Article ID: 108