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buglerbilly
19-02-10, 02:00 PM
An Indian Navy MiG-29KUB two-seat conversion trainer seen during ship trials in Russia. The first aircraft have now been delivered to India. (MiG photo)

Navy Inducts Mig-29K Carrier Borne Aircraft

(Source: Indian Ministry of Defence; issued Feb. 19, 2010)

The 19th day of Feb 2010, was marked with the take-off of the Indian Navy’s new fighter aircraft - the MiG-29K with full afterburners. The new fighter displayed its agility by breaking into an almost vertical climb within seconds after take-off. This was part of the ceremony to formally induct MiG-29K ‘air dominance fighter’ aircraft, into the Indian Navy.

The grand ceremony to formally induct the aircraft into the Indian Navy was held at INS Hansa, Vasco da Gama, Goa. The Raksha Mantri [RM, or Minister of Defence—Ed.], Shri AK Anthony, was the Chief Guest for the ceremony. The might of Naval Aviation was on display- both in the air and on ground. In addition to the MiG-29K itself, the air display included a grand fly-past comprising of Sea Harrier, Ilyushin-38 (Sea Dragon), Chetak, Kiran and Dornier. The Sagar Pawan Aerobatic team also displayed its prowess in various breathtaking formation aerobatic manoeuvres.

The Hon’ble RM on arrival at INS Hansa was received by a ceremonial guard of honour. Addressing the gathering after witnessing a fly-past, the Hon’ble RM said that the induction of MiG 29K fighters into the navy fulfils a long-standing requirement of our navy.

“With today’s induction of the MiG 29 K, coupled with future inductions of aircraft carriers our navy’s capability will see a quantum jump”, he added. He stated that such an addition to our inventory was in fact overdue as the operational role of the Indian Navy has increased manifold. To get a feel of the cockpit, the RM embarked the aircraft on static display and was briefed about the capabilities of the fighter.

The MiG-29K is among the latest and most potent fighters designed by the Mikoyan Gurevich bureau. Whilst talking of the capability of the aircraft the Commanding Officer of the air station at Goa where the aircraft were inducted said that “despite the similarity in the nomenclature and appearance between the IAF’s MiG-29 and the Indian Navy’s MiG-29K, they are quite different from each other”.

The new MiG-29K belongs to the 4+ generation and is capable of fulfilling multiple roles. The new aircraft is more than 30% heavier than the MiG-29 B (IAF). The MIG-29K will be equipped with anti-aircraft Beyond Visual Range missiles, guided anti-ship missiles, ‘smart’ guided-bombs and rockets.

Computers proliferate in all the systems on board the MIG-29K, including weapon systems, navigation systems, instrumentation, flight controls and safety systems. The pilot’s helmet is equipped with advanced features permitting the pilot to shoot a target by merely looking at it. With all these systems, the MiG-29K is indeed a fighter to reckon with and is arguably one of the best in the sub-continent today.

The naval fighter fraternity has been heard referring to the MiG-29K as ‘Game Changers’ and ‘Foe Busters’. Be that as it may, the MiG 29K squadron will be fondly called the Black Panthers. (ends)


Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG Produces MiG-29K/KUB Ship Borne Fighters (excerpt)

(Source: RAC MiG; issued March 19, 2008)

(Although outdated, this press release provides a recap of the Indian contract for the MiG-29K and background information on the aircraft—Ed.)

RAC MiG contract package for the delivery of the multifunctional carrier-based fighters to the Indian Navy was signed on January, 20, 2004. It envisages the delivery of 12 MiG-29К and 4 MiG-29КUB along with the training of the customer’s flight and technical crew’s, the delivery of simulators and spare parts and the setup of aircraft service support.

The contract also provides for another 30 aircraft option to be delivered by 2015.

RAC MiG is manufacturing all the 16 series MiG-29K/KUB aircraft to be delivered to the Customer.

Single-seat MiG-29K and twin-stick MiG-29KUB are multifunctional ship borne fighters designed for the Navy units’ air defense missions, gaining air superiority, destroying ground and sea targets with the high-precision guided and unguided armament round-the-clock in any weather.

The MiG-29К/КUB fighters differ from earlier produced MiG-29 aircraft by:
- improved operational performance;
- increased reliability of aggregates, systems and assemblies;
- service life extended by over 2 times;
- improved fuel system capacity and increased combat load.

While creating MiG-29K/KUB airframe, power plant and avionics the most advanced technologies were employed. The share of composites within the airframe equals almost 15%. The aircraft are equipped with the updated RD-33MK engines featuring the increased thrust and extended service life.

The fighters’ avionics suite open architecture allows integration of the new Russian and foreign-made equipment and armament onboard the aircraft.

The MiG-29К/КUB are fitted with the modern multifunctional multimode pulse-Doppler onboard radar "Zhuk-МE" and state-of-the-art optronic systems.

The representatives of the Indian MoD and Navy actively participated in finalizing the MiG-29K/KUB technical configuration. In some areas they have set up the requirements exceeding world standards.

The MiG-29К/КUB aircraft are at the core of the new [unified] fighter family, which also includes MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35/MiG-35D.

The fighters are designed by the Engineering center of the Mikoyan Design Bureau headed by Vladimir Barkovskiy, Dy Director General – General Designer of RAC MiG. Chief designer of the MiG-29K/KUB is Nickolay Buntin.

-ends-

ARH v.3.1
19-02-10, 03:35 PM
All they need now is a carrier to fly the thing from...

buglerbilly
01-06-10, 10:22 AM
They could have built a NEW Carrier TWICE over for what this vessel is going to cost by the time it arrives........

Gorshkov to be handed over to India by Dec '12

TNN, Jun 1, 2010, 03.37am IST

NEW DELHI: After closely examining the ongoing refit work on Admiral Gorshkov in Russia, the Navy is now confident the aircraft carrier will be ready for harbour trials by early-2011 to ensure it can be handed over to India by December 2012 or so.

This comes after a naval team, led by controller of warship production and acquisitions Vice-Admiral N N Kumar, recently visited Russia to examine the 44,570-tonne Gorshkov at the Sevmash Shipyard.

"There has been substantial progress since the last examination in September 2009. Around 99% of the structural work and almost 50% of the cabling work has been completed on the carrier. Almost all large-size equipment, like engines, diesel generators and the like, has been installed,'' said an officer.

With India earlier this year agreeing to the revised refit cost of $2.33 billion for Gorshkov, after three years of bitter wrangling since the earlier agreement inked in January 2004 had earmarked only $974 million for it, Russia has appointed a high-level apex committee to oversee the work on the carrier.

Along with the fresh Gorshkov agreement, India also inked a contract with Russia for 29 more MiG-29Ks for $1.46 billion in March this year. These fighters will be in addition to the original 16 MiG-29Ks ordered through the $1.5-billion package deal for Gorshkov signed in January 2004.

The Navy plans to deploy two carrier-battle groups (CBGs) by 2014-2015, as reported by TOI earlier. The first CBG will be centred around Gorshkov, rechristened INS Vikramaditya, while the second will be on the 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) being constructed at the Cochin Shipyard, which Navy hopes to get by 2014.

As of now, the Navy is "stretching'' the operational life of the 50-year-old 28,000-tonne INS Viraat, even though it's left with only 11 of its Sea Harrier jump-jets.