ZHUKOVSKY, Moscow Region, June 7 (AVN) - The MIG aircraft corporation will exhibit a prototype of the MIG-AT new-generation trainer at the Le Bourget 2001 air show, MIG Constructor General Nikolai Nikitin said here on Thursday.
The corporation is about to complete co-ordination of the trainer's state tests programme with the Defence Ministry, Nikitin told a briefing. The programme that is to be launched this year envisages 370 flights. It will be financed by the MIG corporation.
"Development of the new-generation trainer has been in progress for a long time in Russia, and we have designed several components of the trainer and gained considerable experience," Nikitin stressed.
The policy of Armed Forces strengthening, proclaimed and implemented by the Russian government, "gives us hope that the MIG-AT programme will assume a decent place in the system of new armament of this country's Air Force," he said.
MIG-AT is intended for use at the initial, main and advanced stages of training with elements of combat application and for refreshment of professional pilots' flying skills. Its development programme was initiated by MIG in 1993. The corporation introduced a series of radical innovations to the project. For instance, MIG-AT is the first Russian plane to have a domestic digital remote control system and the unique K-93 light ejection system.
MIG-AT is the world's only up-to-date plane that is equipped with two LARZAC 04R20 by-pass engines with the thrust of 1,430kg. In the future planes of this type are likely to be powered by RD-1700 engines designed by the Moscow-based Soyuz machine-building design bureau. This engine is undergoing bench tests at present.
The trainer can be fitted with French or Russian avionics depending on the customer's request, Nikitin added.