Look Ma, no hands !!!

in that case, the original Su-34 job would’ve been more appropriate

kidding, right?

I said nearly the same (but not the same), and thats the MiG-29KUB/M2 version with the two seats, not the older ones as in your picture.

now compare that with the tiny F-16 and F-15

i would calculate it is atleast 15.5tons empty. with 8ton external load and 6.5tons fuel for F-18E. http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/fa18ef/docs/EF_overview.pdf

There is only 5% wing area difference between MIG-29K & F-18E and 3 feet length difference but MIG-29K has much taller tails and shorter nose. so i dont think there would 20% difference in internal fuel capacity.

the other link is just random rumbling with guess estimates. there were never 4000kg internal fuel for MIG-29A. MIG never said that 24.5tons of Maximum takeoff weight of MIG-29K is from an aircraft carrier with 5.5ton external load.Infact we dont know the MTOW with 5.5ton external load of MIG-29K.

or in other words you don’t have an empty weight estimate of the MiG-35

from where these numbers come?

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/aircraft/fighter/f18ef/
Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft
http://www.migavia.ru/eng/military_e/MiG_29_K_KUB_e.htm
http://thietre-blogdothietre.blogspot.com/2009/08/mig-29kkub-vs-fa-18ef-empty-weight-and.html

I’m sorry.. When did we ever considering bombing Bulgaria??:p

So by your line of thought, we need to increase our AF for bombing other African countries like Somalia etc.
This is the most sorry excuse ever..

It may surprise you but that is the cold war. Governments on both sides of the curtain had contingency plans to go to war with each other should the time come.

These days its all about threats in Africa and if you did not notice some European countries take involvement in North Africa and the Mid East very seriously.

But outside Europe:

* non-“parter” nation Japan will buy a sizeable number of F-35s, and expect South Korea and Singapore to operate it in the medium term

* the RAAF are actually argiung for an increase in their fighter strength – buying the originally planned 100 F-35s while retaining F-18Fs converted to EF-18G spec

* the US is emerging from recession, and is now firmly focussed on the Asia Pacific which is fast becoming the economic and political global focal point.

Indeed the East is where the action is at, which boggles me why Russia isn’t developing Vladivostok, Sakhalin, and Khabarovsk as its next main cities especially since its so close to S.Korea, Japan, and CHina. c ould benefit much from increased trade.