MOSCOW -- The MiG-35 fighter jet has nearly concluded testing.
Speaking to state-owned media outlet TASS Russian News Agency on May 6, MiG Aircraft Corp. official Musheg Baloyan said, "The MiG-35 is at the stage of state joint trials and a preliminary certificate has been obtained for launching the production of a pilot batch of the aircraft."
Baloyan added, "The flight personnel are fond of the plane, which is easy to operate and that helps a lot. There are issues that do arise in the process of the aircraft’s operation and we are promptly ironing them out together with our customer," referring to the Russian Ministry of Defense, which has placed an order for the jet. He did not identify what issues had been discovered.
The interview with Baloyan took place on the 30th anniversary of the Swifts aerobatic team. The team, which currently operates older MiG-29s, will transition its fleet to the MiG-35, Baloyan said.
State testing of the MiG-35 is scheduled to conclude this year. The jet, a further development on the MiG-29 family, is equipped with RD-33MK thrust vectoring engines, a digital fly-by-wire flight control system, and an advanced avionics suite comprising a modern glass cockpit designed with three 6x8-inch flat-panel LCDs and full hands-on throttle and stick (HOTAS) controls, a digital map, and a helmet-mounted sight. The aircraft is also equipped with the Zhuk-AE radar and has the ability to fire both air-to-air and air-to-surface guided missiles. Additionally, the number of weapons hardpoints has been increased.
The Ministry of Defense currently has an order for six MiG-35s, inked in 2018, and has been expected to place another order for around a dozen jets.
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