"It Took 10 Years, But Russia’s MiG-35 Fighter Finally ..." Topic

…Starts Flight Tests.

"Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin held a video conference with Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG at the Kremlin on Jan. 26 to mark the start of flight-testing for the new Mikoyan MiG-35 Fulcrum-F. An advanced derivative of the venerable Soviet-era MiG-29, the MiG-35 incorporates new features such as three-dimensional thrust-vectoring and an active electronically scanned array radar.

"Let me start by congratulating you on this important event — the start of our new MiG-35 light fighter plane's flight tests," Putin said according to a transcript released by the Kremlin. "I hope very much that this fighter will contribute substantially to bolstering our Air Force and Aerospace Forces. The plane also has good export potential, given that more than 30 countries actively operate another model, the MiG-29."

Test pilot Mikhail Belyayev, who was one of the aviators who took to the air in the new Fulcrum, offered a glowing review of the MiG-35 — certainly not a surprise…"
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Amicalement
Armand

I figure they've probably cursed it by putting the number 35 in the name… :)

Hmmm, I thought they had those long ago.

Quite a slow development program for them, apparently.

Mig seems to really be out of favor, relative to Sukhoi for a very long time now.

I suspect the additional fuel capacity should help to improve operational effectiveness considerably.

35 vs 35?? (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I don't like how the Russians redesignate the same a/c. The Su-27 was followed by the -30, -33 and -35. The MiG-29 has the carrier version K but now they're redesignating it the MiG-35?

The Super Hornet is entirely different from the legacy Hornets but it's still an F-18. The same goes for the Strike Eagle.

Ten years to get to the testing and another 10 years to get out all of the bugs. By the time the 35's get really operational they'll be obsolescent.

Wolfhag

Russian air force isn't too interested in the MiG-35. The general preference is for Sukhoi Flanker type aircraft and for older aircraft ala MiG-29, MiG-31, Su-24, Su-25 to be upgraded.

Their main new fighter program is the stealthy Sukhoi T-50.

MiG-35 program has been kept on life support to maintain MiG in the fighter design game. Basically it's an industrial back up to prevent Sukhoi from having a monopoly..

A bit surprised it is a two-seater.

Looks like lots of upgrades, and very good capabilities if the radar data is true.

More hardpoints make sense too, especially given the sophisticated countermeasures many jets now have.

Actually two seaters are common in modern combat aircraft – most Flankers, Rafales and Super Hornets are two seaters as are virtually all F-15 Eagles produced in the last 25 years. A lot of F-16 strike/SEAD aircraft are also two seaters. USMC and Malaysia also fly dual seat F/A-18D strike versions.

Two seaters allows someone dedicated to operating all those complex systems whilst the pilot focuses on flying.

And in simpler missions, they can be flown as single seaters.

This is where I don't get the F-35. A lot of the systems won't be that much different from those on current 4th generation jets. Yet there is no dual seat version.

It's fine for dedicated air dominance aircraft ala Su-35, T-50, F-22 etc and even formerly air defence dedicated Eurofighter but for a multirole jet it seems like a massive omission.

Su-30

Rafale B

F-15E/K/S/SG/SA/I

F-16D/I

F/A-18D

F/A-18F