Mig-29 – New Striker for Indian Air force

[GORKHALI]

SOURCE : IDRW NEWS NETWORK

Recent successful first flight of the upgraded Mig-29UPG of Indian air force in Russian , marks the birth of a new striker platform for the Indian air force , India had awarded Mig-29 upgrade contract to Russia worth $900 million in 2006 and first flight of the upgraded Mig-29UPG makes it now more formidable strike platform ,which was missing in it earlier .

Mig-29A/B variants were first inducted into Indian air force in 1986 to counter Pakistan’s acquisition of F-16 in their fleet , Mig-29 was designed to be a aerial interceptor aircraft and a dog fighter for the air force , it had little or no capabilities to strike ground targets , but with new upgrades to it avionics and airframe Indian air force will have that capability fighter-bomber capable of striking mobile and stationary targets on the ground and at sea with high-precision weapons under all weather conditions. from this superlative fighter.

This hold quite a importance to Indian air force since its plans to upgrade Mirage -2000 fleet has still not taken off due to higher price asked by the french vendor and also due to safety issues regarding Mig-27 fleet which forms a bulk of the Ground attack fleet along with the Jaguar strike aircraft’s .upgraded Mig-29 fleet will only strengthen strike aircraft fleet of the Indian air force , since addition of MKI’s in IAF’s Fleet has strengthened both the roles for the air force .

Mig-29 as per the contract will get new increased range and payload, new glass cockpit, digital fly-by-wire control system, new avionics, improved radar, KOLS infrared search and track (IRST) and an in-flight refueling probe. The radar will be the Phazotron Zhuk-ME which is capable of tracking ten targets to a maximum range of 245km.

IAF has 69 operational MiG-29 ,while Russia will be upgrading 6 of this jets in Russia , while the Rest 63 jets will be upgraded locally in HAL facility from the upgrade kits provided by the Russia , HAL will also will be locally producing 120 RD-33 series 3 turbojet engines for the upgraded jets. (AKA RD-93 used in JF 17)

Mig-29 will also get Thales TopSight-E helmet-mounted sight and display (HMDS) which is also fitted to aircraft for the carrier borne Mig-29k for the Indian Navy.The armament upgrade will include the installation of modern weaponry like smart bombs and substantially improved air-to-air missiles and high-accuracy guided missiles to destroy ground and sea targets.

 

[GORKHALI]

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

@Pandora-What is the max thrust of the RD-33(3)??And can the thrust be increased by reducing the engine life ala the EPE variant of the GE F-414 engine??If yes then has China done this modification??

 

[GORKHALI]

 

[IND151]

@Pandora-What is the max thrust of the RD-33(3)??And can the thrust be increased by reducing the engine life ala the EPE variant of the GE F-414 engine??If yes then has China done this modification??

in MIG 35 due to some changes rd 33 produces 7% more power. original power of rd 33=8300 kg

 

[GORKHALI]

@Pandora-What is the max thrust of the RD-33(3)??And can the thrust be increased by reducing the engine life ala the EPE variant of the GE F-414 engine??If yes then has China done this modification??

A revised model RD 33 MK 3 increased afterburner thrust to 9,000 kilograms-force (88,000 N; 20,000 lbf) and dry weight 1,145 kilograms (2,520 lb) compared to the baseline model through modern materials used on the cooled blades, although it retains the same length and maximum diameter. Incorporated is an infrared and optical signature visibility reduction systems. Service life has been increased to 4,000 hours
>officially china didn't modified RD 93,unofficially well who knows

 

[Kinetic]

The radar will be the Phazotron Zhuk-ME which is capable of tracking ten targets to a maximum range of 245km.

I doubt this claim. Only high power ESA radars can have such range.

 

[rockstarIN]

I doubt this claim. Only high power ESA radars can have such range.

May be against 10cm2 RCS

 

[rockstarIN]

So after upgrades, is it enough against PAF F-16 Blk 52 and China's J-10?

 

[GORKHALI]

So after upgrades, is it enough against PAF F-16 Blk 52 and China's J-10?

In term of air to air combat ,Mig 29 always score if it's in good hands but in overall F16 is clear winner.. J10 capability is still to reveled and tested so no comparision here .

 

[Water Car Engineer]

 

[Kinetic]

May be against 10cm2 RCS

That is the fun of Russian radars! lol There is no modern fighter aircraft with such RCS. Even the upgraded Mig-29 has far lower RCS.

So after upgrades, is it enough against PAF F-16 Blk 52 and China's J-10?

F-16 blk 52 yes but J-10 is still a mystery like most of the chinese weapons. But both F-16 and Mig-29 upg should be superior to J-10.

 

[angeldemon_007]

I doubt this claim. Only high power ESA radars can have such range.

As far as i know aesa radars normally has lesser range than the radars like the one in Su30 and the above one (i am talking about aesa for fighter jets). An aesa with such a range will be a killer. I mean you don't need anything else, you can beat a eurofighter or rafale with LCA if you install such an aesa on LCA.

I think only APG-77, the one meant for F22 has the highest range something around 200-230 km.
APG-79: 120~130 km (F18 SH)
APG-80: 110~120 km (F16 block 60)
Elta 2052 is better than APG-79,80 not in range but it can track 60 targets at at a time.
Apart from this all of the aesa have lesser range than APG-80 and they can track less targets and attack less at a time.

I am not sure about CAESAR, i heard it has range of 165~220 km.

 

[Whiplash]

As far as i know aesa radars normally has lesser range than the radars like the one in Su30 and the above one (i am talking about aesa for fighter jets). An aesa with such a range will be a killer. I mean you don't need anything else, you can beat a eurofighter or rafale with LCA if you install such an aesa on LCA.

I think only APG-77, the one meant for F22 has the highest range something around 200-230 km.
APG-79: 120~130 km (F18 SH)
APG-80: 110~120 km (F16 block 60)
Elta 2052 is better than APG-79,80 not in range but it can track 60 targets at at a time.
Apart from this all of the aesa have lesser range than APG-80 and they can track less targets and attack less at a time.

I am not sure about CAESAR, i heard it has range of 165~220 km.

He did not say AESA. He said ESA. The su 30 has a PESA radar which is a type of ESA.

 

[angeldemon_007]

I am sorry i misread....i was in hurry...
but anyway the info about aesa might be for help....can you tell me about the range of CAESAR ???