MOSCOW. Oct 7 (Interfax-AVN) - The MIG-29 Fulcrum multifunctional fighter will continue to form the core of the frontline aviation in the Russian Air Force, Nikolai Nikitin, director general and constructor general of the MIG aircraft corporation, said on Monday.
"The MIG-29 fighter that performed its maiden flight 25 years ago is a unique plane. Many of its flight and technical specifications were ahead of its time, which made the aircraft the best light frontline fighter of the late 20th century and early 21st century. I am sure that MIG-29 fighters will form the core of the Air Force fighter aviation in the next 20 to 30 years," Nikitin said at the opening of a monument to the MIG-29 at the Mikoyan design bureau's engineering center.
Experts say that about 400 MIG-29 frontline fighters are in the inventory of the Russian Air Force.
"Thanks to non-standard design solutions substantiated in the MIG-29, an entire series of modifications was created on the basis of the baseline model. Among them are the MIG-29SMT multifunctional fighter, MIG-29M2 two-seat combat plane, MIG-29K/KUB deck fighter and MIG-29OBT fighter with thrust vector control. Technologies of the fifth-generation fighter are being tested in these modifications," Nikitin said.
In reply to a question from Interfax-Military News Agency, the official said that a modernization program for the MIG-29 stock has been elaborated, cleared with the Air Force military research committee and launched. The program covers a period of several years.