MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian MIG aircraft corporation and several French companies are about to complete the development of a new-generation trainer aircraft designated as MIG-AT, a source at the corporation told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
"The program of designing the Russian-French MIG-AT trainer of a new generation has entered the final stage," the source said.
The plane is going through certification tests, he said. When they are completed, supplies of the aircraft to units of the Russian Air Force will begin.
According to the source, several foreign countries have taken interest in the MIG-AT, and talks with them are underway.
The MIG-AT is powered by two Larzac-04-R20 engines of the Snecma company developing 1,400kg each. In the future, the plane will be powered by modernized Larzac engines with a thrust of 1,700kg. Their mass production will be arranged in Russia. The St. Petersburg-based Klimov plant is taking part in the engines' modernization.
The MIG corporation is developing the MIG-AT in collaboration with the French companies Snecma and Thales. The aircraft is intended for training pilots at the initial, basic and advanced training stages with elements of combat application, as well as for refreshing skills of combat pilots in handling warplanes such as the MIG-29 Fulcrum, SU-27 Flanker, Mirage-2000- 5 and F-16.
The MIG-AT is a new-generation trainer. It is the first trainer in the world to have a new digital three-channel quadruple-reservation comprehensive control system, which essentially increases flight security and the performances of the aircraft. The basic version of the MIG-AT is the trainer, another variant is a light combat aircraft.
In the combat version, the maximal take-off weight is 7,800kg to 8,150kg (5,120kg as a trainer), and the maximal payload is 2,000kg. The maximal airspeed is 850kmph, the practical ceiling is 14,000m. The ferry range is up to 3,000km. The maximal operational g-loads are +8/-3