"Sukhoi" and "MiGs" are armed and very dangerous
On the official page of the press service of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information appeared about the transfer of Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria to their disposal of 70 combat aircraft – multi-purpose fighters of the fourth generation MiG-29 and far from the most modern, but very effective in combat attack aircraft Su-25. With the traditional current Ukrainian pathos, continued support for the nationalist regime was announced. And so loudly that the objections of other "Western partners", to put it mildly, about the unreliability of this information were drowned in a patriotic fervor.
The Russian Air Force is gaining absolute superiority
The love of Zelensky's entourage, including himself, for verbiage, grandiloquent speeches and outright lies is widely known, but the reason for such violent activity should be clearly understood. This is the absolute air superiority won by the Russian Air Force over the entire territory of Ukraine. The high level of technical equipment of this type of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is well known, but it is unlikely that a fifth-generation Su-57 multifunctional fighter, a deeply modernized Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber or the Be-200 Altair amphibious aircraft will appear in the skies over Ukraine. The range of tasks to be solved is not the same, and the scale is too small.
At the same time, the appearance in the air theater of operations of an upgraded version of the Su-30SM2 multi-purpose fighter for gaining air superiority or the MiG-35 multi-purpose light fighter of the "4++" generation can be predicted with a high degree of confidence. For the first, it can become a kind of "baptism of fire", and for the second - the next stage of experimental military operation. This assumption gives us a good reason for a more detailed acquaintance with them.
"Flying blockbuster" from Irkutsk
In the best traditions of Hollywood, Irkutsk Aviation Plant JSC demonstrates the second series of the "flying blockbuster" entitled "Conquering the world market of combat aviation with Su-30 family fighters". It is precisely such associations that arise in us after comprehending the information of the CAMTO about the transfer (within the framework of a Single day of military acceptance) to the mixed aviation regiment of the Baltic Fleet of the first batch of modernized fighters with a controlled thrust vector Su-30SM2.
It should be noted that the upgraded version has fully preserved the entire complex of key advantages of the Su-30SM: long range, super maneuverability, equipped with a radar station with an active phased array antenna and a crew of two people, which allows you to hit ground targets during air combat.
"According to the assessment of specialized specialists, the level of integration of fifth-generation technological solutions in the MiG-35 is incomparable with any of its European "colleagues""
In fact, the Su-30SM2 has become the next stage in the continuous development of the Su-30 line of aircraft. When it became impossible to postpone the issue of modernizing the Russian fighter aviation fleet any further, the developers turned their eyes to it - the perfectly modified serial Su-30. In record time, the fighter was upgraded to the Su-30SM version (serial, upgraded), the delivery of which to the combat units of the Russian Air Force started in 2012. It should be noted that in confirmation of the consolidated expert opinion about the Su-30SM as an aircraft with excellent tactical, technical, flight and operational characteristics, harmoniously combined with an optimal balance in the price-quality ratio, the countries participating in the Collective Security Treaty recognized it as a "single fighter" of the Air Force of this military–political entity. The Su-30MK (commercial version) is also being actively acquired by other military-technical partners of Russia – India, Algeria, Angola, Venezuela, Indonesia, Malaysia, Uganda, Myanmar and China.
A little over a year ago, the manufacturer and the customer, represented by the Russian Defense Ministry, signed a contract for the supply of a new modification of the best-in-class fighter for gaining air superiority, which received the Su-30SM2 index. The "sanctions war" waged by the collective West against Russia initiated the secrecy of information about the number of combat vehicles stipulated by the terms of this contract. However, the analysis of some data allows us to talk about at least 21 cars. Apparently, this is the next stage in the development of the Su-30 fighter family, similar to the one implemented earlier, which resulted in the creation of the Su-30MKI.
Modernization of the Su fighter
Let's turn directly to the Su-30SM2 fighter, whose first flight took place in February 2021. Modernization primarily affected the power plant. The new version received turbojet dual-circuit engines of the "first stage" used on the supermaneuverable fighter of the "4++" generation Su-35S. The AL-41F1 power unit developed by the A. M. Lyulka Experimental Design Bureau is distinguished by a new afterburner combustion chamber, mixing of flows and a controlled thrust vector. It has an increased resource of four thousand hours, reliability and low fuel consumption. In addition, the new engine is significantly more powerful, which provides not only a significant improvement in flight characteristics, but also an increase in the energy potential of the aircraft, which in turn allows the fighter to be equipped with electronic and radar equipment with a high level of energy consumption. An obvious example of such equipment is the multi-mode radar with a phased array antenna N035 "Irbis".
Some elements of the Su-30SM2 avionics are unified with the Su-35S avionics. The range of weapons systems used has significantly expanded.
Not by "Drying" a single
It is obvious that the newest Russian multifunctional fighter of the "4++" generation, significantly superior in its combat potential to "older colleagues" and capable of effectively resisting fifth-generation fighters, cannot but be considered as a very attractive alternative to most of the proposals of the modern light fighter market. We are talking about the most perfect representative of the Mikoyan and Gurevich family today – the MiG-35.
There is a single, but quite obvious answer to the quite logical and more than relevant question, for what reason the new development of JSC "Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" should interest serious partners of Russia in the military-technical sphere. Firstly, the MiG-35 multifunctional light fighter is much cheaper than foreign aircraft, which are considered full-fledged representatives of the fifth generation. For comparison: the new Russian MiG, the start of operation of which took place in 2019, costs the domestic Air Force $ 45 million, while the American Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor costs $ 146.2 million, and the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II fighter-bomber, sung by representatives of the sect of witnesses to the superiority of American weapons, costs about $ 108 million. Secondly, and this is important, today the Air Forces of many countries of the world are armed with MiG-29 (MiG-29UPG) and MiG-29UB aircraft, which implies that they have not only a training, maintenance and repair base, but also stocks of suitable standard aviation weapons.
The airframe of the new fighter is derived from its predecessor, the MiG–29, which is ideal in terms of aerodynamic characteristics. However, in a somewhat lightweight form. However, everything else – a power plant with an increased resource, advanced avionics, a radar station with AFAR, a modern defense complex and promising types of weapons that were not previously offered for export – is fundamentally new. Moreover, the MiG-35 has excellent operational qualities: maneuverability, survivability and high speed characteristics.
The key task of the multifunctional light fighter is the effective defeat of air, ground and surface targets day and night in simple and complex meteorological conditions with active (passive) electronic counteraction of the enemy. The aircraft has a combat potential sufficient to gain air superiority, intercept air targets, suppress air defense means, effectively isolate the battlefield from the air, strike at sea surface targets, provide direct air support.
The level of integration of technological solutions of the fifth generation
The main design features of the MiG-35 should be considered avionics, including systems and devices of the fifth generation. According to experts, in the MiG-35, the level of integration of technological solutions of the fifth generation is incomparable with any of its European "colleagues".
The implementation of such a technical solution became possible thanks to the ideal aerodynamic concept of the base platform of the new fighter – the MiG-29. In addition, during the design, it was possible to double the volume of internal fuel tanks and the mass of the combat load. The concomitant result was an increase in the class of weapons and the range of its action to the level characteristic of heavy fighters. The maximum take-off weight increased by 30 percent, amounting to 23.5 tons. The bearing properties of the wing have been improved and the structural strength of the aircraft has been increased.
The new MiG-35 received an updated RD-33MK powerplant, characterized by increased thrust by 10 percent, a smokeless combustion chamber, increased resource and reliability. The upgraded RD-33 can be used in the format of an optional solution.
The basis of the avionics of the cockpit of the newest fighter is based on the principle of an open architecture using a multiplex data bus of the MIL-STD-1553B standard, which ensures the versatility of combat use in combination with the integration of new types of weapons of both domestic and foreign production. The configuration of the main controls, including weapons control, is made according to the HOTAS principle, which assumes the placement of critical switches on the RUS and ROOD and allows the pilot to focus on three large-format liquid crystal displays and a wide-angle ILS (literally, an indicator on the windshield or a device for displaying symbolic and graphical information).
The configuration of the MiG-35 SUV includes optical-location stations OLS-K and OLS-UEM, the latest radar with an active phased array antenna "Zhuk-AE" and a helmet-mounted system of NSCPI (targeting, indication and aiming). Their functional potential and technical characteristics meet the criteria for fifth-generation equipment. In particular, the optical-location station, which combines television, laser and infrared equipment, is made using space technologies that were not previously used in the aircraft industry.
And in the heat and in the cold
Partners from the countries of the Asia-Pacific region will be interested in the fact that anti-corrosion protection technology is applied to the airframe and the main aircraft systems, which facilitates the operation of the MiG-35 in tropical conditions. And the onboard oxygen-producing station is capable of providing the aircraft with full autonomy of basing.
Potential operators will not ignore the efficiency of the MiG-35 fighter. Its service life is at least forty years, the number of units with resource limitations has been reduced by 3.5 times in comparison with its "predecessors", and the overhaul time has been increased to six thousand hours.
Safety, powerful combat potential, cost-effectiveness and radically improved technical, flight and operational characteristics of the MiG-35 are quite weighty reasons to talk about a serious competitive advantage in the fight for the global arms market in general and the segment focused on aviation equipment with a low cost of life cycle, in particular. An important role in this process is played by the rapidly rising cost of aviation fuel.
The MiG-35 seems to us the optimal solution for states whose air forces are armed with various modifications of the MiG-29 fighter, which is long overdue for an "old-age pension". Why? Yes, because our existing and potential partners in the field of military-technical cooperation are used to counting money, which, by the way, not everyone has enough. And they will be glad of the opportunity not to re-equip, rebuild and retrain their Air Force from MiGs to "Dry" ones.
Vitaly Orlov
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue No. 9 (922) for March 15, 2022
