MiG-35 debut at AeroIndia-2007

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This article is published in AD&D Magazine

- by Francis Nantha
The Mig-35 has been one of the most anticipated new fighter aircraft this decade, with only teasers being dribbled out in bits since the project was first announced. There has been continued speculation as to what exactly the final production model would be and the general public is set to get a first-hand demonstration of the Mig-35’s capabilities at the Aero India exhibition this month.

There had been many questions as to what exactly the Mig-35 would be and answers have been fleeting – leaving experts, aficionados and everyone with a passion for Medium-range Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) very much in the dark as to what the final specifications would be.

After much speculation and anticipation, AD&D magazine has received confirmation that the Mig-35 is now set to roll off the production line following the thumbs-up from Russia’s top brass after an exclusive presentation at an undisclosed location on January 9.

AD&D magazine has also been reliably informed that the first public demonstration of the aircraft will be taking place at the Yelahanka Air Base in Bangalore, site of the prestigious Aero India exhibition on February 6 – one day before the expo’s official opening.

As had been widely expected, the Mig-35 is based on the MiG-29M prototype but the final production model has turned out to be far different airplane from the virtual aircraft which has been described by the specialized media worldwide.

Following the incredible impression made by the MiG-29 OVT flight demonstration at Farnborough in early 2006, everybody was expecting the MiG-35 to be equipped with the thrust vectoring engines.

This was only a natural assumption to make as the demonstration MiG-35 model was equipped with the RD-33 omni-directional thrust vectoring engine (referred to as OVT); test flights carried out since August 2003 – amounting to over 110 in total – all used these Klimov Plant-made powerhouses. One key advantage of the RD-33 engine is its thrust range. The RD-33 also has a high level of gas-dynamic tolerance to external disturbances, including those during weapons firing.

But the new fighter displays characteristics of airframe and engine that differ only slightly from the MiG-29 M2 and shipborne MiG-29K for the real changes have taken place within the avionics.

Sergey Ivanov,Russia Defence Minister andGeneral Vladimir Mikhailovat the MiG-35 presentation © - AD&D Magazine

The main difference is the active phased-array antenna (AESA) radar which is very similar to the one installed aboard the most advanced American fighters. According to the Russian Phazotron Corporation, the new radar has the Zhuk-AE designation and has a lot in common with the MiG-29K radar.
In general, the Russians think that the high level of unification of the MiG-35 with the MiG-29K and the latest MiG-29 upgrade offered to the Indian Air Force could be one of the decisive trump cards in the MMRCA tender.

This line on unification can be further traced with regards to the MiG-35 optronic system. Its built-in targeting and sighting suite has extended capabilities developed from the MiG-29K. In addition the aircraft has been equipped with a conformal opto-electronic pod located under right wing air intake.
Obviously the new station installation extends the new MiG’s strike capabilities. According to the MIG Corporation the system solves all the navigation tracing, targeting and reconnaissance tasks day and night.

In comparison with its predecessors, in particular the MiG-29M2, the MiG-35 has more enhanced capabilities due to the new optical devices installed on the top and bottom of the airframe as well as on the wings’ trailing edges.

According to the team of MIG experts, these are part of the aircraft’s self defence system enabling it to trace hostile missiles and laser beams.
It has been mentioned that RAC MIG has found a new partner to develop the MiG-35 optronics, namely Precision Instruments Research Institute. This partner has extensive and advanced experience in the field of space systems development and delivers new technologies for the new aircraft.
Aside from the super-manoeuvrability (i.e. at the high angles of attack and minimum speed), the MiG-35 also offers better three-dimensional stabilisation, which will reduce the aircraft's trimming requirements and, consequently, its fuel consumption.

As a result, the MMRCA will obtain an extra serious advantage in aerial engagements. This will considerably improve the flight safety in limit modes and decrease the pilot’s workload, allowing him to focus more on performance of a combat mission. These new capabilities of the aircraft improve its operational efficiency and enhance its competitiveness.

These enhancements allow the MiG-35 to effectively use air-to-air and air-to-surface precision guided weapons. The aircraft is equipped with the new OPrNK system (optical sighting and navigation suite) on basis of modern computers with LINS navigation system and the new recording system with multiplexed bus-based architecture.

The aircraft’s suite of guided weapons can be expanded with the addition of the Kh-31A anti-ship missiles with active radar seekers, the Kh-31P anti-radar missiles, Kh-29TE missiles and KAB-500Kr TV-guided bombs. When equipped with an external optical/laser targeting pod, the fighter can use the Kh-29L air-to-surface missiles and KAB-500L laser-guided bombs. These additions will allow the aircraft to engage aerial and land targets.
Improvements have also been made to allow the MiG-35 to have a higher internal fuel capacity of 950 litres, through an addition of a strap-on tank behind the cockpit. The capacity of the external fuel tank suspended under fuselage has increased up to 2,000 litres.

Ferry range with three external fuel tanks and two R-73E air-to-air missiles (for self-defence) has increased up to 3,100 km, with one in-flight refuelling the range will be 5,400 km. The fuel management system has also been digitised, and includes a new digital fuel metering system.
With this technology it seems that RAC MIG has succeeded in dramatically increasing the technological level of the avionics on the MiG-35 to make it a very serious rival to its western competitors.

RAC MiG has also drawn up several other modernisation programmes, including service life extension modifications. The modifications, and introduction of a new diagnostics and maintenance system, will enable a step-by-step increase of the fighter life to 40 years and 4,000 flying hours.

Source & copyrights: AD&D Magazine

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