The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is participating in the Aero India 2023 at the Yelahanka Military Air Base from today (13 February) to 17 February 2023. It may be pertinent to note that this marks the first time UAC presents its offerings as a unified company abroad, following its merger with leading design bureaus, Sukhoi and MIG, and plants in Lukhovitsy, Novosibirsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and Nizhny Novgorod.
Yuri Slyusar, General Director of UAC, spoke on the occasion, saying, “India is a long-standing partner of ours, and a large number of Russian equipment is operated here. The Aero India exhibition provides a key regional platform to address issues of maintenance and delivery of new machines and maintain our relationships with partners.”
One of the main priorities for UAC in the Indian aviation market is developing a unified after-sales service system for Russian aviation equipment, which constitutes significant potential for the Indian Air Force (IAF). The unified after-sales service system is crucial in developing strategic cooperation between India and Russia.
UAC is showcasing its flagship products, including the uber-sophisticated MiG-35 multifunctional frontline fighter, at the united Russian exposition organised by Rosoboronexport. The MiG-35 is a 4th++ generation fighter that incorporates 5th generation technologies and is designed to engage various air targets and moving and fixed ground targets using guided and unguided armament. The aircraft features versatility, a wide range of weaponry, the capability to operate in any climatic conditions, and decreased cost of operation.
The MiG-35 also offers close air combat in heavy countermeasures environments and can be operated in both combat and training modes in a two-seat configuration. The aircraft is an advanced version of the MiG-29M/M2 and represents the pinnacle of the MiG aircraft family.
MiG-35: Technical Lethality & Air Superiority
The MiG-35 is a contemporary export variant that combines modern systems from the MiG-29M2 with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. According to Airforce Technology, the fighter jet has the thrust vectoring of the MiG-29OVT as an additional option. The MiG-35, which made its maiden flight in 2007, comes in single and twin-seater variants.
The Russian fighter has a length of 19 meters (62 feet 4 inches), a wingspan of 15m (49ft 3in) and a height of 6m (19ft 8in). The MiG-35’s loaded weight is 17,500 kilograms, with the Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) being 29,700 kg. The aircraft has two Klimov RD-33MK afterburning turbofans with a dry thrust of 5,400kgf, 53.0kN (11,900lbf) each, while the thrust with afterburner is 9,000kgf, 88.3kN (19,800lbf) each.
The MiG-35 has a maximum speed of Mach 2.5 (2,400km/h, 1,491mph) at altitude and a 2,000 km range. The ferry range of the fighter is 3,100km and the aircraft has a service ceiling of 17,500m. The aircraft’s rate of climb is 330 m/s (65,000 ft/min) and has nine hardpoints; eight underwing and one centreline.
Coming to the armaments, the MiG-35 has 1×30 mm GSh-30-1 cannon, 150 rounds, S-8, S-13, S-24, S-25L, S-250 unguided and laser-guided rockets. The fighter jet has a multitude of air-to air-missiles (AAM) comprising of AA-10 Alamo: 4×R-27R, R-27T, R-27ER, R-27ET, AA-8 Aphid: 4×R-60M, AA-11 Archer: 8×R-73E, R-73M, R-74M, and AA-12 Adder: 8×R-77. The air-to-surface-missiles (ASM).
The MiG-35 has guided bombs ranging from KAB-500L: 500kg laser-guided bomb and KAB-500T: 500kg TV-guided bomb and unguided bombs consisting of the FAB-250: 250kg bomb, FAB-500: 500kg bomb, and ZAB-500 fuel-air explosive bomb.
The MiG-35 is known for its super-manoeuvrability and capability to fly at supercritical angles of attack at an increased level of sustained and available g-loads and high turn-angle rate, which requires a greater thrust-to-weight ratio and improved wing aerodynamic efficiency.