So the original M/K had close to 50% more internal fuel

Yes. That was a known fact for those who was interested in the figures, but numbers like those mostly get/got lost in the “MiG-29 is short-legged” noise.

The table below shows the fuel load in different MiG-29 variants. Data for latest versions could change as there are photos of MiG-35 with 4 drop tanks (and a refuelling kit).

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http://alejandro-8en.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/fuel-load-in-different-mig-29-variants.html

Where is the 2,100 litre centreline drop tank?
AFAIK, there was also a planned 50+ litre tank installed in each LERX of SMT package by removing the top aux intake.

The original MiG-29M (9.15), still has the max internal fuel of all the variants as per the stat and the original MiG-29K based on the original M carried it forward. Too bad the M came out just before the crisis started exploding.
This variant was (probably) the one that was offered to India by GB to RG in the late 80s for local production, but the PM/Govt politely refused due to the investment needed for setting up yet another (after Jaguar/MiG-27) production line (and also due to the other lobbies against it) and ‘wisely’ endorsed the import option, when needed, as cheaper. This missed opportunity cost dearly when the spares and support started affecting due to the crisis. We Indians do not have the habit of stocking up spares (untill recently) unless the OEM forces it upon us for reasons of business, maintainability and keeping/retaining brand name high.
Russians do not follow this practice (like their US counterparts) and that has been one of the reasons why mostly the brand name gets affected. If they had followed the same strict procedure of making the operator of their a/c buy/order and stock up the spares for the 5-10 year service of the fleet, most of the problem associated with low availability (due to lack of spares) will vanish. This has what affected the MiG-29s in the Indian service as well, particularly in the early 90s. If there was enough (medium-long term) spares already arranged for the fleet for 5-10 years during the initial deal, most of the problems that IAF faced in the early 90s w.r.t MiG-29s could have been avoided.

Whats the opinion about the two incidents we saw recently – Mi-24/35 and a Turkish Super Cobra…. both lost their tail but the Turkish helicopter dropped as dead weight where as the Russian one even tried to recover and it ended up in normal posture on the ground, very hard and caught fire.
Is it possible that some more altitude could have given chance to the pilots to have a proper ‘crash’ landing?

Based on what I read they were support to retrofit Lada-2 with new AIP and 3 with AIP and Lion battery but now they will just keep the lada as it is and Kalina will be its latest variant …I would think the AIP and Lion batter are not mature enough yet

Yes. Thats what I too understood from the development. 677 Lada was considered not to “meet requirements” of future due to the AIP developments on the other side. So they paused the construction/project to give time for AIP to complete the development and certification process. It remains to be seen what all changes would be there from the current 677. If there is also a 8-cell VLS along with the AIP sections, the better.
Not sure else to expect…..maybe changing the current 2 x diesel units to 1 x more powerful diesel, more powerful electric motor?

But Kolomna diesel (or for that matter any other) supplier need to have strict quality control before delivery and avoid instances like what happened on 12150 Mangust class with Zevzda diesels.

The basics of AIP is a matured tech as far as Russia is considered. They have been using it for space travel/stay for decades. The submarine AIP/Electro-chemical Generators lagged behind in development only due to financial problems.

I’m not much enthusiastic about Lithium ion batteries as the world wide trend (on a/c) shows it needs to mature more. Submarines cant take any sort of risk with a fire at its keel. Not sure whats the status of new Russian batteries is, but Igorr did mention about the new developments in his blog or in the forum somewhere.

Pr.21631 (Serpukhov, Buyan-M class) @ Russian naval station, Tartus, Syria.

Russian aircraft carrier to take part in Syria operation by October.

Interesting. I suppose that implies that the MiG-29K squadron is ready for operational deployment then?

Hmm….it was earlier said to be in June-July. Now its October.
It would be a good operational deployment for all those involved – Kuznetsov, MiG-29K, Su-33 and Kamov’s.
Since India did not venture into testing the 29K and carrier against the terrorists, Russian 29Ks will be the first one to do the honors.

^ It will cost lesser than any similar European BTA. Cost can be further reduced if they do away with zero-zero ejection and go for a zero-60 variant. Not sure which ejection seats its using, but a Zevzda variant will be cheaper than european counterparts.

Bangladesh already went for Yak-152, so no chance. When can we expect a booking from Sri Lanka? 🙂

Russia did not have the higher power range engines as the development/production halted in the 90s courtesy the economic crisis following dissolution. The presentation outlining the plan/progress gives a good list of hope on the powerplants. Sort of a breakthrough like that of the first Soviet turbojet TR1 from Salyut. Hope we see it all before 2020-22.

Engines based on modernized/modified PD-14 gas generators/core.
PD-24 (24t), PD-28 (28t), PD-35 (35t)
From this presentation it looks like there may not be a PD-30 designation anymore as its been superseded by the more powerful variant PD-35. The PD-28 variants are to cover the powerband crossing 30t or maybe a lower version of PD-35 like the PD-14A.