View Full Version : Russian Military to Replace All Lightweight Fighters With MiG-35
bantaa
2nd Feb 2017, 06:00
Russia plans to change its fleet of light fighters for the newest MiG-35. I’d be startled if this turns out to be true..
http://mil.today/2017/Weapons38/
Martin the Martian
2nd Feb 2017, 11:47
What do they mean by lightweight fighters? The Russians only have Fulcrums, Flankers and Foxhounds in their fighter fleets, and I wouldn't describe any of those as lightweight.
Something is either getting lost in translation or the authors of that website live in fantasy land.
In another article they describe the AEA for PAK-FA:
An advanced antigravity suit was developed for pilots of the fifth-generation Russian fighter, a prospective airborne complex of frontline aviation (PAK FA), reported TASS on Wednesday, Jan 11
Antigravity eh? Now that is advanced!
G-Suit/Anti-gravity suit, understandable mistake for a non-English speaker using an online translator to make.
That's exactly my point. If we can work out what 'lightweight fighter' should translate into the initial article will make more sense.
Pontius Navigator
2nd Feb 2017, 14:09
Odd, I read it as replacing Mig 29 with Mig 35. Nothing strange there and no timescale.
MiG-35 represents the further development of MiG-29K/KUB and MiG-29M/M2 warplanes. Reliability of the aircraft, engines and onboard electronics were improved, service life of the airframe was extended as well. According to MiG officials, cost per flight-hour of MiG-35 is almost 2.5 times less than that of the MiG-29 jets.
FWIW it's worth, there is often a vast difference between intending to replace all MiG 29 with MiG 35, and finding the funds to actually make that happen.
The general should be careful what he says - the bean counters are the same everywhere. Doing a search on the latest articles and a bit of translation he makes comments such as "twice the range", "twice the payload" etc; dangerous - the bean counters will say, "right, so you only need half as many then".
I remember being told to be scrupulous at only talking about tankers as range extenders rather than "force multipliers" etc - walls have ears....
melmothtw
3rd Feb 2017, 05:26
I'm not sure the Russians had ever committed to the Mig35 for their own air force as it had been developed mainly for export. I guess what's new here is that (verbal) commitment.
Nothing but juggling with words and indices. Fundamentally it's the same MiG-29 with new avionics, new engines, etc.
Consider evolution of F-15 from A thru E or -SE, or similar F/A-18 history.