Since the MiG Corp. several years ago has switched to production of a commonised family of advanced versions of the fighter (MiG-29K/KUB, MiG-29M/M2, MiG-35), it used its backlog of earlier versions of the MiG-29. The singleseaters were assembled by the MiG Corp.’s production facility in Moscow and the twinseaters by the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novgorod.

The MiG-29 is well known in Myanmar. The country awarded the MiG Corp. the first contract for 12 aircraft of the type (10 MiG-29B singleseaters and two MiG-29UB twinseaters) in 2001 and the delivery took place in 2002–2003 (see the photos). Once the new deal has been fulfilled, Myanmar’s air force will beef up its fighter fleet considerably: Flight International has reported that it had comprised 12 MiG-29s and 24 obsolete F-7M (the Chinese upgrade of the clone of the MiG-21, a second-generation Soviet fighter), by the beginning of this year. The latter were delivered to Burma as far back as the 1980s and are said to have seen the termination of their active operation in anticipation of replacement with more advanced MiG fighters.

At the same time with fulfilling the Burmese contract, the MiG Corp. carries on with fulfilling a major order from the Indian Navy for MiG-29K/KUB carrierborne fighters. In addition, the early MiG-29M/M2 single- and twinseaters are in construction under the 2007 contact with Syria, and upgrade is underway of the first batch of the Indian Air Force’s 62 MiG-29 fighters under the MiG-29UPG programme stipulated by the 2008 contract.

The situation is a bit more complicated as far as the prospect of the heavily upgraded MiG-35 fighter (the two-seat variant is designated as MiG-35D) is concerned. The Indian Defence Ministry is known to have published in late April the short list of contenders in the tender for acquisition and licence production of 126 MMRCA medium multirole fighters, with the short list comprising the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale. Nevertheless, acquisition of a considerable number of MiG-35s is stipulated by Russia’s governmental armament acquisition programme for the period until 2020. Belarus has mentioned the feasibility of buying such planes recently too. “There are plans for buying MiG-35 or Su-30 aircraft as well”, said Sergey Gurulyov, chairman, State Military Industrial Committee of Belarus, during a press conference in Minsk on 4 May.