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India carrier buy ups the ante in Asia/Pac
by Reuben F. Johnson
http://www.ainonline.com/Publications/asian/asian_04/d3_indiap13.html
The Asia/Pacific region is about to see a significant change in the balance of naval and air power as India commits to another round of major weapon systems purchases from Russia. The first step in this geopolitical shift occurred last month when a high-level Russian delegation journeyed to New Delhi to sign contracts for the sale and refitting of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier (to be delivered in 2008) and a full complement of Mikoyan MiG-29K carrier-capable fighters.
Officially, the carrier will be provided to the Indians free, but the modifications and other refits will run approximately $650 to $700 million. The MiG-29K contract is valued at another $700 million or more with a combined price tag for both programs of approximately $1.5 billion.
The Indian program is far-reaching in two aspects. First of all, it calls for an ambitious refitting of the Gorshkov that includes extending the ship’s flight deck to allow for the MiG-29K’s operational requirements and installing takeoff catapults similar to that used on U.S. and French-built carriers. No Russian carrier has ever been fitted with a catapult and no design bureau has experience with the construction of steam catapults, which has some skeptical observers asking if the 2008 deadline is feasible.
The second dimension is that this new version of the MiG-29K will be one of the most advanced aircraft to be produced thus far by Russia’s aerospace industry. The 12 MiG-29K-9.41 and four two-seat MiG-29KUB-9.47 models will be practically two generations beyond that of the original MiG-29K-9.31 airplane that was designed for the original Russian carrier trials in the late 1980s.
According to MiG officials, the new-generation MiG-29 is decidedly different from all other versions of the aircraft that have come before it and represents an entirely new era in the history of this aircraft. Furthermore, the production facilities at MiG have been measurably improved and are now the most advanced of their kind anywhere in the former Soviet Union.
[colour=red]The MiG-29K-9.41/7 variants will feature a combination of a new avionics suite and radar set that are more than 80 percent common with the other new Indian front-line aircraft, the Su-30MKI. One of the only differences is that while the Su-30MKI is equipped with a NIIP N011M Bars radar, the MiG-29K will have the latest derivative of the Phazotron Zhuk model. This unified avionics package will allow the Indians to cross-train pilots on more than one type of aircraft. MiG also plans to offer this new set of on-board systems as a retrofit modernization option for the Indian air force’s large fleet of land-based MiG-29s acquired in the 1980s.[/color]
The MiG-29K-9.41/7 will provide the pilot with a state-of-the-art digital fly-by-wire flight control system and a full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) module for the aircraft’s two Klimov RD-33K engines. Thrust vector control (TVC) is another option that has been offered. The cockpit will be an ultramodern design, featuring three 6- by 8-inch color displays and driven by a new design main mission computer. The Zhuk radar is also “definitely nothing like the old original 1990s N010 design,†said one MiG official.
As important as these new technologies are, the other significant advance with the new MiG-29K has been in the extensive use of advanced materials. As with the earlier MiG-29K model, the center wingbox section has the louvred, blown-in doors removed, but the material used is now a more advanced aluminum alloy that is more resistant to corrosion. The internal volume freed up by this change can then be used for fuel.
“Which means we end up with an aeroplane that holds more fuel than even the MiG-29SMT-9.17 version of the aircraft, has a stronger and more robust structure, but still weighs less,†said a senior designer.
But the black cloud that looms over the program is the desire by other enterprises in the Russian aerospace complex to poach part or all of this contract (along the $700 million to be made on it) away from MiG. “We are genuinely confident that the Indians will realize that this contract belongs at the firm where the aeroplane was designed and where the real expertise is,†said one MiG representative, “but we still are concerned.â€
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Admin: Please ensure that you have BB codes on. Please ensure that when you manually spell the codes on an edit that you spell in american english and not UK/Australian/Indian English eg color = colour. I know the US can't spell in english like the mother tounge - but the BB Codes are american - hence a problem for some of us who forget!
Finally, on a large response, try to avoid editing in multiple colours/colors, bold, text size etc as it does become hard to read.
by Reuben F. Johnson
http://www.ainonline.com/Publications/asian/asian_04/d3_indiap13.html
The Asia/Pacific region is about to see a significant change in the balance of naval and air power as India commits to another round of major weapon systems purchases from Russia. The first step in this geopolitical shift occurred last month when a high-level Russian delegation journeyed to New Delhi to sign contracts for the sale and refitting of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier (to be delivered in 2008) and a full complement of Mikoyan MiG-29K carrier-capable fighters.
Officially, the carrier will be provided to the Indians free, but the modifications and other refits will run approximately $650 to $700 million. The MiG-29K contract is valued at another $700 million or more with a combined price tag for both programs of approximately $1.5 billion.
The Indian program is far-reaching in two aspects. First of all, it calls for an ambitious refitting of the Gorshkov that includes extending the ship’s flight deck to allow for the MiG-29K’s operational requirements and installing takeoff catapults similar to that used on U.S. and French-built carriers. No Russian carrier has ever been fitted with a catapult and no design bureau has experience with the construction of steam catapults, which has some skeptical observers asking if the 2008 deadline is feasible.
The second dimension is that this new version of the MiG-29K will be one of the most advanced aircraft to be produced thus far by Russia’s aerospace industry. The 12 MiG-29K-9.41 and four two-seat MiG-29KUB-9.47 models will be practically two generations beyond that of the original MiG-29K-9.31 airplane that was designed for the original Russian carrier trials in the late 1980s.
According to MiG officials, the new-generation MiG-29 is decidedly different from all other versions of the aircraft that have come before it and represents an entirely new era in the history of this aircraft. Furthermore, the production facilities at MiG have been measurably improved and are now the most advanced of their kind anywhere in the former Soviet Union.
[colour=red]The MiG-29K-9.41/7 variants will feature a combination of a new avionics suite and radar set that are more than 80 percent common with the other new Indian front-line aircraft, the Su-30MKI. One of the only differences is that while the Su-30MKI is equipped with a NIIP N011M Bars radar, the MiG-29K will have the latest derivative of the Phazotron Zhuk model. This unified avionics package will allow the Indians to cross-train pilots on more than one type of aircraft. MiG also plans to offer this new set of on-board systems as a retrofit modernization option for the Indian air force’s large fleet of land-based MiG-29s acquired in the 1980s.[/color]
The MiG-29K-9.41/7 will provide the pilot with a state-of-the-art digital fly-by-wire flight control system and a full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) module for the aircraft’s two Klimov RD-33K engines. Thrust vector control (TVC) is another option that has been offered. The cockpit will be an ultramodern design, featuring three 6- by 8-inch color displays and driven by a new design main mission computer. The Zhuk radar is also “definitely nothing like the old original 1990s N010 design,†said one MiG official.
As important as these new technologies are, the other significant advance with the new MiG-29K has been in the extensive use of advanced materials. As with the earlier MiG-29K model, the center wingbox section has the louvred, blown-in doors removed, but the material used is now a more advanced aluminum alloy that is more resistant to corrosion. The internal volume freed up by this change can then be used for fuel.
“Which means we end up with an aeroplane that holds more fuel than even the MiG-29SMT-9.17 version of the aircraft, has a stronger and more robust structure, but still weighs less,†said a senior designer.
But the black cloud that looms over the program is the desire by other enterprises in the Russian aerospace complex to poach part or all of this contract (along the $700 million to be made on it) away from MiG. “We are genuinely confident that the Indians will realize that this contract belongs at the firm where the aeroplane was designed and where the real expertise is,†said one MiG representative, “but we still are concerned.â€
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Admin: Please ensure that you have BB codes on. Please ensure that when you manually spell the codes on an edit that you spell in american english and not UK/Australian/Indian English eg color = colour. I know the US can't spell in english like the mother tounge - but the BB Codes are american - hence a problem for some of us who forget!
Finally, on a large response, try to avoid editing in multiple colours/colors, bold, text size etc as it does become hard to read.