| Issue 3 | Volume 147 | Tuesday, February 7, 2017 | theavion.com |
Photo Courtesy: Dmitry Terekhov
Russia Revitalizes Mig-35 Jet Henry Neiberlien News Editor
What’s Inside
In an era of military aviation that seems to be obsessed with stealth and speed, Russian aircraft manufacturer Mikoyan, famous for their Mig line of fighters, has been given the green light by the Russian military to continue development of their newest jet. The Mikoyan Mig-35 Fulcrum Foxtrot is based on the Mig-29 airframe. The Mig-29 Fulcrum has been around since the late seventies, and while the Russian Air Force has phased out most of their mig-29s for modernized Sukhoi jets like the Su-30 Flanker-C and the Su-35 Flanker-E, ironically it has become a staple in NATO air forces, especially like Poland and Bulgaria. The Mig-35 may look very similar to the 29, but its capabilities have been significantly upgraded. The Mig-35 is very maneuverable thanks to its
bi-directional thrust vectoring, as opposed to just vertical thrust vectoring on the Su-35. The Mig-35 also has a host of sensors and more modern avionics to improve its capabilities to that of comparable modern fighters. The most curious thing about the Mig-35 and its official unveiling is the Russia still sees the value of late fourth generation fighter aircraft while still attempting to develop a fifthgeneration fighter. This might suggest that there are doubts in either the capabilities or trouble with the development of the SU-50. Russia’s stealth jet has had quite the troubled development, with engine fires during test flights and its questionable stealth attributes. Whatever the reason, Russia seems reluctant to rely solely on the SU-50 as the future of the Russian fighter fleet. Russia has continued to invest in upgrading older model Sukhoi jets with a push for maneu-
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verability over stealth. Russia may also want to keep its fleet diverse to counter the single fighter fleets made up of F-35s of NATO countries. The Mig-35 is also a proven airframe and is cheap and easy to manufacture. This would be an advantage to Russia as they would be able to fly a large fleet of Mig35s for the price of one SU-50. The Mig-35 may also be appealing for export, being a modern, affordable jet fighter for Russia’s allies abroad.
With the Mig-35 Russia is returning to its historical doctrine of “quantity over quality,” probably structuring their air force with squadrons led by SU-50s or SU-35s but filled with Mig-35s and SU-27s. The problem with the Mig35 is that it is currently scheduled to be operational next year, but modern US and European fighters already outclass it. US F-16s have been aggressor training for decades against SU-27s and Mig-29s. It is a silhouette familiar to US pilots,
and they know how to counter it already. However, the Mig-35 does have thrust vectoring, and in such a lightweight fighter frame it could be formidable up close in a dogfight. Overall the Russian Aircraft Corporation is probably happy to see interest in the Migs again, as the Russian military seemed to prefer Sukhoi jets for the past two decades. Just as the Migs almost vanished from the Russian skies, the Mig-35 was revived from limbo just as the last Mig-29s were being sent to
reserve. Russia currently has 30 on order, but plans for at least 170 airframes in service by the mid-2020s. The first operational Mig35s are slated to enter service in 2018 with export versions to follow shortly, as Egypt has 50 aircraft on order already. The Mig35 is available in both single (Mig-35), and two seat (Mig-35D) variants, and starts at $30 million in case you are interested. More expensive than the past Migs, but the feature set it offers more than offsets the price increase.
Photo Courtesy: Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau The Russian Mig-35 demonstrating its firepower and manuverability in training excercises over Russian airbase ti prove superiority over American F-35
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