Russians Give Indian Navy Big MiG-29K Induction Troubles

[deckingraj]

IAF is not going for those fighters.

it is the indian navy which is .......

as i said , the sukhoi-33 can fly from the larger aircraft carriers of the varyag class , but not from the admiral groshkov.

so the navy had to go for the mig 29 k.

of course , the mig 29 k has rectified the problem of smoking engines by rendering them smokeless, and range has been increased by accomodating fuel in a ' hump ' on its body.

where even the older mig 29 scored over its adversaries was its maneuverability and ability to fire the then revolutionary AA--11 archer ( NATO name )missile at off-boresight angles , and the mig 29 k has added active radar homing missiles like AA-12 adder ( NATO name ) and new radar ( Zukh--ME) with guided ground attack weapons to make it an extremely potent platform .

but the RD-33 engine remains........

you wont find the mig-35 winning the MRCA contract due to this very engine .

I think there are more reasons for Mig-35 not winning then just the engine...Anyhow that is not the point we are discussing....IAF is updating all the Mig-29 and the fighter will become equivalent to IN mig-29. IN is very happy with the fighter air-craft. The inititial order of 16 has been complemented with another 29....A total of 45 air-crafts which are going to stay with them for another 2-3 decades....Are you telling me that we compromised on the most crucial aspect(its engine) of the Air-craft because we bought admiral groshkov????

There is a parallel thread running on an interview about Mig-29K...Please read that.....

 

[ashdoc]

I think there are more reasons for Mig-35 not winning then just the engine...Anyhow that is not the point we are discussing....IAF is updating all the Mig-29 and the fighter will become equivalent to IN mig-29. IN is very happy with the fighter air-craft. The inititial order of 16 has been complemented with another 29....A total of 45 air-crafts which are going to stay with them for another 2-3 decades....Are you telling me that we compromised on the most crucial aspect(its engine) of the Air-craft because we bought admiral groshkov????

There is a parallel thread running on an interview about Mig-29K...Please read that.....

if you ask the IAF whether they wont more mig 29s , they will say no.

this is in stark contrast to their attitude towards mirage 2000 , which was extemely popular and wanted in more numbers by IAF personnel before the sukhoi was bought.

as i said earlier , we had no choice but to buy the mig 29 k as the su- 33 cannot take off from the groshkov.

of course , the mig 29 k itself is an extremely potent platform , the engine being the only drawback.

read here --

India to License-build MiG-29 Engines

Until the arrival of the SU-30MKs and SU-30MKIs, India’s MiG-29 fleet was its primary counter to Pakistan’s F-16s. That fleet had a number of problems, the most prominent of which was a low readiness rate given the Russians’ long turnaround time for spares, repairs, and other support. Engines were reported to be a particularly troublesome issue. Yet India is acquiring MiG-29K fighters for use from its new full-size INS Vikramaditya carrier, and the thrust-vectoring MiG-29OVT/MiG-35 variant is a contender for its MRCA medium fighter aircraft competition. Both use variants of the same basic RD-33 engine: the RD-33MK Sea Wasp, and the MK-derived RD-133 with full thrust vectoring nozzles.

 

[RPK]

Tyre burst as MiG-29 develops snag


Panaji, Dec 6 (IANS) A MiG-29 fighter aircraft of the Indian Navy developed a technical snag and suffered a tyre burst after the pilot applied the emergency brakes, an officer said Monday.

'The fighter plane suffered from a hydraulic failure. We are enquiring to the incident,' an Indian Navy officer said.

'According to the pilot, the tyre burst when he applied the emergency brakes after realising the technical snag,' he added.

The Mig-29s, the first four of which were inducted earlier this year, were purchased by the Indian Navy as part of a $1.5 billion deal inked with Russia in January 2004 for the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

Of this, $740 million was meant for the aircraft and the balance for the refitting the carrier. The price of the carrier has now been revised to $2.23 billion and its delivery is expected sometime in 2012.

Till then, the aircraft will be deployed at the shore-based INS Hansa located in Vasco, some 35 km from here.

The Indian Navy will eventually get 12 MiG-29K single-seater aircraft and four MiG-29KUB twin-seat trainer aircraft.