So basically what happened was MiG corporation was promoting the MiG-35 when they did their presentation a couple of years ago - this presentation here I don't know if you remember it or not?
This was well after the Indian MMRCA by quite a few years IIRC and Egypt was very interested in it and so they made the deal with Russia. Problem is, the exact aircraft they were publicizing wasn't actually available because a couple of the particular elements that made it officially the "MiG-35" were not ready and the main one being the AESA radar which was/is called the Zhuk-AE. In the meantime, they were equipping them with the Zhuk-ME which is a pulse doppler radar (the same one in the Indian MiG-29K slightly lesser range and lesser targets detected and prioritized at once and of course, the AESA factor which is a constantly changing frequency which makes it very difficult or almost impossible to jam) because the AESA radar wasn't (and still isn't ready). The other item that was to be a standard feature on the MiG-35 export version was the OLS-K which is essentially a built-in ground target designator. But instead of that, they offer the T-220 pod which does the same exact thing and is actually a better option because then you can use one pod and share all the info to a slew of other fighters etc. You can see the OLS-K in the pic below, it's that glass bulb under the fuselage.
The rest of the stuff like that MAWS, SOAR, RWR and even the improved airframe from this one in this pic to the new MiG-29K/M/35 with the larger wings and larger barn door flaps as well as the Kreuger flaps on the LERX are all newer items since this original MiG-35 came out and all of that stuff is on the Egyptian MiG. So because of those 2 items, they called it the MiG-29M and the 2-seater is the M2 and at some point in time, there was a rumor that MiG had dropped the M designation and that this aircraft is just the MiG-35 because once it gets an upgraded radar, it's officially a MiG-35 and why all the silly numerations etc. So we just call it the MiG-35 because it really is when you factor all that stuff and what is missing really is only the radar.
Even when they tried promoting it again last year for the 2019 models, it's essentially exactly what the EAF MiG is like and if you look at this picture carefully, it has the T-220 pod under the fuselage and no OLS-K lol!
What do you mean? I don't understand which engineers you're referring to? The Egyptians or the Russians? And why exactly? Kindly elaborate, please.
I did miss it, ma bro. You gotta tag me ma man. The tagging is also not working that well lately. Not sure what the problem is so just remind me like you did. Ishtah 3aleik!
Yes, of course. But you're talking about Egypt which is the one entity Israel fears the most and tries to stop any type of potent A2A missiles from being acquired for a particular reason that appeared at the end of the October War which has instilled the fear of God in them. And ever since, along with the US, these types of weapons are lobbied by the powers at hand to stop them at any cost from coming to Egypt. But France was the first to open the door with the MICA IR & ER both at around 80km range and now the Russians with the R-77-1 at 110km range and we're waiting to see what other A2A weapons come with the Su-35 but even with the Rafale, look what the US did to stop the SCALP CM? Just because it has one little US component in it, they used that as leverage to stop the 50 we ordered from being delivered but it only worked for a little while and after it was all said and done, we ended up getting half of them for free because of the delay.
Now the Meteor is considered the best missile in the world ATM and to let Egypt have it is like OH MY GOODNESS!!! lol. But it's a done deal and the French actually came through. Now there might not be a need for the Typhoons.