MAKS 2021: Russia gets prior request for MiG-29K/KUB fighters from India.

Russia has received a request from India for the delivery of Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB (NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-D) onboard fighters, Director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev told TASS at the MAKS 2021 aerospace show.

MiG-29K pictured in 2017 (Picture source: Wikipedia/Dmitriy Pichugin)

According to Dmitry Shugayev, Russia is waiting for a tender for the upgrade of MiG-29K/KUB fighter jets: "Russia has also started consultations with India on the upgrade of MiG-29K/KUB planes," Shugayev said.

The Mikoyan MiG-29K (NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-D) is an all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau. The MiG-29K was developed in the late 1980s from the MiG-29M. Mikoyan describes it as a 4+ generation aircraft.

Production standard MiG-29Ks differ from prototypes in features such as a multi-function radar and several new cockpit displays; the adoption of HOTAS (hands-on-throttle-and-stick) controls; the integration of RVV-AE (also known as R-77) air-to-air missiles, along with missiles for anti-ship and anti-radar operations; and several ground/strike precision-guided weapons.

The MiG-29K was not ordered into production and only two prototypes were originally built because the Russian Navy preferred the Su-27K (later re-designated Su-33) in the early 1990s. Mikoyan did not stop its work on the MiG-29K aircraft despite the lack of financing since 1992. The programme got a boost in the late 1990s to meet an Indian requirement for a ship-borne fighter following the purchase of a former Soviet aircraft carrier, and the MiG-29K was first received by the Indian Naval Air Arm in 2009. The Russian Navy, with their Su-33s nearing the end of their service lives by 2010, has also ordered the MiG-29K as a replacement.

The MiG-29K/KUB ship-based multipurpose fighter jets are designed to defend ship groups from air attacks, gain air supremacy, and deliver strikes against ground and sea targets using precision-guided weapons in any weather conditions. The MiG-29K/KUB fighter jet can reach more than 2,000 km/h (1,243 mph) and fly to a distance of 1,500 km (932 mi). MiG-29K/KUB fighters are the main shipborne aircraft of the Indian Navy.