More MiG-35 for the VKS?
MiG-35 Production Rumors
More rumors are swirling around the net regarding the MiG-35. Russia needs to increase its aircraft production to replace combat losses and fill the gap with regards to planes stuck in overhaul/maintenance status (and therefore held away from front line duties).
All the Sukhoi subcontractors are busy. The Mikoyan ones, however, are a little quieter.
The MiG-35 doesn’t have the capabilities of the latest Su-30 and Su-35. But they have better capabilities than the older MiG-29, and the platform was designed from the ground up as a multirole aircraft.
The Evolution of MiG-35
The MiG-35 is a development of the MiG-29M/M2 testbed and (Indian) MiG-29KR. Compared to the original MiG-29 Fulcrum, the MiG-35 comes with more powerful engines, a bigger range due to larger fuel tanks, a redesigned lighter and stronger airframe, a partial glass cockpit, and an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
It also comes equipped with the OLS-35 Optical Locator System, which gives the plane (on paper at least) some means of detection against stealth aircraft at short ranges.
Finally, the MiG-35 is a very flexible platform: Its software is “open,” which means the customer can pretty much install and use any foreign weapon systems with very few modifications. The plane is also compatible with the RD-33OVT engines, which come with thrust vectoring nozzles.
Capabilities and Strategic Importance
The MiG-35 is a Generation 4++ multirole aircraft capable of fulfilling air superiority, air-to-air, or air-to-ground missions. Smaller and cheaper than the Sukhois, the MiG-35 could add numbers to the VKS and either fly front line duties or take over duties in other theatres, freeing some needed airframes for the Russian western and southern military districts.
In short, producing the MiG-35 would give both Russia and the VKS options.
Assessing the Rumors
How valid are those rumors? Difficult to say. But the VKS has received several serially produced Fulcrum-F since 2019, so the production lines are ticking over… And those rumors, for once, have logic to them.
-RBM.
