The MiG-29K is the first Russian multi-role carrier-borne combat aircraft, designed to accompany the pure air defense Su-33.
THE MiG_29K IS another Russian fighter that owes its existence to a foreign order. It simply wouldn’t exist without the interest and money from India. Back in the 1980s, the Soviets launched the multi-role, ship-based MiG-29K (izdeliye 9.31) based around a new airframe and N010 (the future Zhuk) radar. The first of two MiG-29K prototypes (‘311’) flew on June 23, 1988, and on November 1, 1989, it recorded a ‘first’ in Russian history by landing on an aircraft carrier. However, in 1992, the project was abandoned.
India’s purchase of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya — formerly the Admiral Gorshkov — revived interest in the shipborne fighter. In 2004, India acquired 16 MiG-29Ks (and 29 more in 2010) in an updated version designated izdeliye 9.41 (single-seater) or 9.47 (two-seater).
When compared to the 9.31, the new variant featured increased-area doubleslotted rear fiaps, adaptive nose fiaps, leading-edge vortex controllers (LEVCONs) and a new digital fly-by-wire control system. Single- and two-seat versions have a nearly identical airframe, including the same canopy. The dif…
