Wouldn’t this be a MiG-29M as I don’t see the second seat installed? Is Egypt getting both variants?

Trying to understand the MiG-29/35 designations can be quite a challenge. Officially the designation “MiG-29M/M2” has been dropped in favour of MiG-35, but is still kept for these birds. Maybe the reason is that the designation was still used when the contract was signed.

Not strictly true – going into STT mode to guide a SARH missile against a specific target causes the other tracks to disappear in Western jets as well (hence one of the advantages provided by AMRAAM – you don’t lose SA when you lauch). IIRC the problem on the N001/N019 is that there is an automatic target prioritization algorithm in TWS mode which will select a target and go STT for engagement when certain conditions are met. This means the pilot has less control over the target which he engages and when he will lose SA.

Interesting, is it the case for all of them? I got a guide for the APG68(V5) and it does state that. On the other hand, if I understand correctly, the STT mode does not need to be used until the missile reaches a 30% distance compared to the launch’s.

Czech Gripens are ex-SwAF JAS39C/Ds. Hungarian ones are reworked ex-SwAF JAS39A/Bs.
South African and Thai Gripens were new-built, as far as I know..

Thanks MSphere

If SAAB can sell Gripen C cheaper than used F-16s then it certainly makes sense to keep production running.

It does not make much sense to keep 2 production lines open, and a brand new Gripen C will never be cheaper than a used F-16. Also, there should be quite a few Gripen in storage.

Request- anyone have good documents on the TKS-2-27 datalink? Seems pretty advanced for the time (vanilla Su-27).

A few years ago Pit provided an interesting summary of the system. It was very advanced for the time and deployed in large numbers. IIRC designers won a state award for it. There are also a few links in Russian I kept somewhere

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?47529-MiG-29-kontra-F-16-(aerodynamics-)

Ten MiG-29 fighters belonging to the Myanmar air force have been upgraded at RAC MiG facilities near Moscow, a source in the Russian delegation at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) 2017 show in Malaysia last week told AIN. Moscow is now offering similar upgrades to Malaysia, which acquired 18 in 1994, and to Bangladesh, which procured 10 MiG-29s at the turn of the century.

Interesting, perhaps the upgrade is similar to Peru’s, which also kept original radar.

Russia and UAE are negotiating a possible contract for Su-35s. Both countries have also signed an agreement on the development of a light fifth generation fighter

https://lenta.ru/news/2017/02/20/su35/
https://lenta.ru/news/2017/02/20/arabian_fighter/

UAE operates some Russian equipment (Pantsir and BMP-3s) but I see the Rafale acquisition as a more likely prospect.

F-15? No chance..

Why not? It has an AESA radar (unlike EF-2000) with a very advanced sensor suit. Great payload/range and a wide range of weapons.

So, a more relevant comparison would involve the operating cost of e.g. a MiG-29M1/M2 rather than the 9.12A.

But then again the SMTs used by the VKS are 40% cheaper to operate than the earlier versions.

I would not be so sure about the higher cost of fuel.. Both F110 and RD-33 have very similar/identical SFC in military (0.75/0.77), as well as in A/B mode (2.01/2.05).

I am talking about aircraft in general, not comparisons. If you take any aircraft the cost of fuel is only a fraction of the total operating cost. It is not about comparing fuel consumption.