Russia receives its first ordered MiG-29SMTs

[Zarvan]

Russia has begun receiving the first of the 16 MiG-29SMT fighter aircraft it ordered in April 2014. Source: RAC MiG
Russia has received the first of the MiG-29SMT 'Fulcrum' multirole fighter aircraft that it ordered in April 2014, MiG Corporation has reported.

The extra 16 aircraft were ordered for the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) as a stop-gap measure to compensate for delays to the MiG-35S aircraft that still has yet to be ordered. It is believed that the 16 extra MiG-29s are divided between 14 MiG-29SMT fighters and two MiG-29UB trainers.

The first aircraft were delivered in late December to the Astrakhan-Privolzhskiy airbase, where the 116th Training Centre of Combat Applications of the Russian Air Force is headquartered.

The number of aircraft delivered to the training centre wasn't disclosed in the MiG report, although photos on Russian aviation sites indicate at least two MiG-29SMT aircraft (Bort: Blue 20 and Blue 21) and maybe four aircraft, along with a single MiG-29UB trainer (Bort: Blue 50) were delivered to the centre in December. MiG did note that deliveries of all 16 aircraft should be completed by the end of the year.

Russia already operates 28 MiG-29SMT fighters, although it did not order them. Instead, they were diverted into Russian service after their intended recipient, Algeria (which had ordered 36 of the aircraft), rejected them due to quality concerns. Unlike the aircraft built for Algeria, the aircraft ordered for the VKS are fitted with an internal electronic warfare (EW) suite, according to the MiG report.

Visually the MiG-29SMT can be most easily identified by an extended spine (beyond the extension first seen in the MiG-29S) to include extra fuel. This doubles the aircraft's air-to-air mission radius to 836 n miles (1,550 km; 963 miles). It was originally offered as an upgrade package for older 9.12 and 9.13 MiG-29 airframes to include many of the avionics and systems enhancements of the new MiG-29M family, but not its lighter aluminium-lithium alloy 9.15 airframe.

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Russia receives its first ordered MiG-29SMTs | IHS Jane's 360

 

[star_11]

Are these the latest mig29 upgrades?