Posted on 02/03/2009 9:11:04 PM PST by pobeda1945
MOSCOW, February 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will use an upcoming air show in India to showcase its MiG-35 advanced jet fighter, a contender to win an Indian fighter tender, an official from Russia's state arms exporter said on Monday.
Aero India-2009, which will be held in the southern city of Bangalore on February 11-15, is one the largest aerospace shows in the Asia-Pacific region, hosting leading manufacturers, vendors and suppliers from 35 countries.
"The MiG will certainly make several demonstration flights after its presentation on the first day of the air show. We would like it to show its best features," said deputy director of Rosoboronexport Viktor Komardin.
Six major aircraft makers - Lockheed and Boeing from the United States, Russia's MiG, which is part of the UAC, France's Dassault, Sweden's Saab and the EADS consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies - are in contention to win the $10 billion tender for 126 light fighters to be supplied to the Indian Air Force.
Komardin reiterated that the MiG-35 has excellent chances to win the tender because the Russian aircraft has superb performance characteristics and Russia and India share a long-standing partnership in strategic and military-technical cooperation.
"The MiG family is well-known in India. Our Indian partners have production and maintenance facilities ready to produce part for our aircraft," the official said.
The existing Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation program until 2010, lists up to 200 projects worth about $18 billion.
India is a key buyer of Russian weaponry, with contracts including the delivery of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier with at least 16 MiG-29K Fulcrum-D carrier fighters, the Smerch MLRS, and licensed production of T-90 tanks in India.
Russia signed in March a contract with the Indian Defense Ministry to upgrade around 70 MiG-29 fighters, in service since the 1980s, and agreed to develop a fifth-generation fighter together with India. (MiG-29 K/KUB fighters for India- Image Gallery)
Russia's MiG-35 Fulcrum-F, an export version of the MiG-29M OVT (Fulcrum F) is a highly maneuverable air superiority fighter, which won high acclaim during the Le Bourget air show in France last year.
The fighter is powered by RD-33 OVT thrust vectoring engines. The RD-33 OVT engines provide superior maneuverability and enhance the fighter's performance in close air engagements.
Moscow said if MiG-35 wins the tender, Russia is ready to transfer all key technology to India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and provide assistance for the production of the aircraft in the country.
Such a tiny airframe for those two huge engines, where do the put any gas in it?
One thing I always like about Rooshian aircraft is that they can often operate from pretty low quality air strips (e.g. gravel, ice)
It always makes it to the end of the runway!
Russki airstrips are concrete slabs, rather like sidewalk slabs. They heave in winter, and if you cut the runways, they have spare slabs stocked at various places round the runway, and can rearrange the sand underneath, then drop a slab back in place. and It is tough to close down a Rooski runway.
On the other hand, their landing gear is heavier than USAF (lighter than US Navy aircraft) and they often have an arrangement that sucks air from the top of the wing at takeoff, so that they don’t vacuum crud from the runway into their inlets.
Smart engineers, working for a government that stinks more than ours.
Looks like it would show brightly on radar with all of those wing hardpoints.
So, what are Boing and lockmart offering?
Please tell me its not the JSF.
Point taken although the F-22 carries significant munition stores internally that don't paint on radar until deployed and then only shortly. And on the side of this Russian aircraft, I'm sure that these hard points are removable as well. It is just that the F-22 can carry in high-threat environments.
Don't put words in my mouth that I didn't say. NOTHING is invincible. A musket fired by someone unseen 20 feet behind someone with an assault rifle will kill you in spite of 'weapon superiority'! The dictum for air combat is 'first seen is first killed'! If your aircraft can be seen 15 seconds before mine because your radar cross-section is larger, you are DEAD (all other things being equal). This gun-camera picture is meaningless if you are already a smoking piece of wreckage 10 miles away because you were seen 1st!
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