Slovak MiGs

From RIA Novosti:

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050615/40525038.html

MOSCOW, June 15 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian MiG aircraft corporation announced at the Le Bourget air show near Paris Tuesday that it had landed a contract for upgrading the Slovak air forces MiG-29 fighter to NATO standards, Vremya Novostei, a daily, reported.

MiG First Deputy General Director Sergei Tsivilev called the deal “unprecedented” because it names the Russian company as the integrator for avionics and aircraft control systems based on components made by major western manufacturers. As a result, MiG won about 90% of the money the Slovak Defense Ministry had allocated for the program. Tsivelev would not comment on the deal’s exact amount, but put it at “several million dollars.”

The MiG-29 is in service with the Polish, Bulgarian and Hungarian air forces, and MiG’s senior manager is hopeful that the Slovak experience will not go unnoticed by the East European NATO member states.

According to Tsivilev, MiG is scheduled to upgrade the Slovak MiG-29 squadron by the end of 2006. Since the Warsaw Pact era, a Slovak Air Force fighter squadron has consisted of 12 aircraft. The fighter jets are to be fitted with advanced identification friend-or-foe (IFF) transponders and navigation systems, with their instruments to be converted from the metric to the Imperial system.

Short-range and satellite navigation systems have been provided by U.S. company Rockwell Collins, IFF transponders by the UK’s BAE Systems, lights by the U.S.’s Goodrich and emergency beacons by the U.S. company Smiths.

“However, it should be mentioned that MiG is the systemic integrator for the end products, and these known companies were our contractors,” Tsivilev said.

About 10% of the contract’s worth fell on the four western suppliers, he said.

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What exactly does this upgrade entail? Seems like almost nothing – no engine upgrade, no radar upgrade…. Boring.

And its not exactly going to be a big money spinner for MiG – only 12 airframes.