The MiG-35 is a Russian multirole fighter of the 4++ generation, developed at the Mikoyan Design Bureau (RSK MiG) as a further development of the MiG-29K/KUB and MiG-29M/M2 aircraft. Flight tests began on January 26, 2017, at MiG's production facility in Lukhovitsy, where its international presentation was held the following day.[2][3] Production of the aircraft's assemblies has been set up at the Sokol Nizhny Novgorod Aircraft Building Plant.[1]

Design and specifications

The MiG-35 is equipped with thrust-vectoring engines, a new radar, and onboard electronics designed for the use of advanced weapons, including laser weapons. The number of weapon hardpoints has been increased to 10, flight range has grown by one and a half times compared with its predecessors, and radar signature has been reduced several-fold.[2] Factory testing of the aircraft was completed in December 2016.[3]

The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev, announced an intention to purchase 170 MiG-35s to re-equip light fighter aviation; the Strizhi (Swifts) aerobatic team was supposed to be among the first to receive the new aircraft.[2] Potential foreign customers named included India, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Peru, and Algeria.[3]

Production at the Sokol plant

In February 2017, the head of RSK MiG, Ilya Tarasenko, announced at a ceremony marking the 85th anniversary of the Sokol plant that the Nizhny Novgorod enterprise would handle about 50% of the labor input required to build the MiG-35 — the entire assembly production. After that, final assembly of the aircraft was to take place at MiG's production facility in Lukhovitsy, where test flights and delivery to the customer would also be carried out.[2] Technical re-equipment was planned at Sokol for the new production, since the MiG-35 is a fundamentally new aircraft compared with those previously built at the plant.[2]

In August 2017, the RSK MiG corporation confirmed the transfer to Sokol of production of some MiG-35 assemblies (along with assemblies for the civilian Il-114). Under the Federal Target Program for production modernization, the plant was allocated 3.574 billion rubles for the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of its flight-test complex, as well as for the reconstruction of its laboratories, test facilities, fuel storage, and assembly shop.[1] Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Valery Shantsev and Ilya Tarasenko agreed to coordinate their efforts in developing aircraft manufacturing in the region.[1]

By February 2018, the reconstruction of the production site at Sokol had been completed. The Director General of RSK MiG reported that the enterprise was fully ready to carry out the volumes that the Ministry of Defense would order.[3]

Links

  • Wikidata (Q220529 — entry in the free knowledge base)

Sources

  1. Vremya N — Sokol Plant to Receive 3.5 Billion Rubles for Reconstruction and Technical Re-equipment of Its Flight-Test Complex
  2. Rossiyskaya Gazeta — MiG-35 Production to Be Deployed in Nizhny Novgorod
  3. sdelanounas.ru — "Nizhny Novgorod's Sokol Plant Has Prepared Production for MiG-35 Fighters" in the "Aviation" blog / Made by Us