"FC-1 is significantly inferior to the MiG-29 in terms of characteristics, but it is cheaper - about $ 10 million against $ 35 million," - explained the source of the newspaper
Russian aircraft manufacturers are forced to admit that they have a new serious competitor on the world arms market - China. The head of RAC MiG and AHK Sukhoi Mikhail Pogosyan opposed the signing of a new major contract for the supply of Russian RD-93 jet engines, which are equipped with the Chinese-Pakistani fighters FC-1 (in the Pakistani version - JF-17). The contract for the supply of 100 RD-93 engines to China was planned to be signed by May. However, Poghosyan believes that the FC-1 is a direct competitor to the Russian MiG-29s.
According to a source of the newspaper "Kommersant" in the defense industry, Russia is negotiating the supply of a large batch of MiG-29s to Egypt - the country plans to buy 32 aircraft in total. In parallel, the Egyptian side began negotiations with the manufacturers of FC-1. In addition, the Egyptian government has begun negotiations with Pakistan on the joint production of Chinese fighters.
"FC-1 is significantly inferior to the MiG-29 in terms of characteristics, but it is cheaper - about $ 10 million against $ 35 million," - explained the source of the newspaper. The head of RAC "MiG" insists that the re-export of technologies must be coordinated with the manufacturers of the final products so as not to damage them.
However, Rosoboronexport explained that "re-export is carried out in accordance with the decisions of the government of the Russian Federation. There is no such order to coordinate such contracts with manufacturers of final products, in this case aircraft,".
Permission to re-export to Egypt RD-93 as part of FC-1 was given by FSMTC in November 2007. The engine can also be supplied to Nigeria, Bangladesh, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.
Konstantin Makienko, an expert at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, believes that Mikhail Poghosyan's demands are fair. "If Russia really does clash with China in the Egyptian arms market, something needs to be done about it." However, according to Ruslan Pukhov, a member of the public council under the Ministry of Defense, "it will be extremely difficult to explain to the Chinese why we have been supplying engines until now, and then suddenly changed their minds."
Russian and Chinese manufacturers have already faced each other on the world market. Since March 2007, Turkey has been holding a tender for the purchase of air defense systems. Among others, the Russian S-400 air defense system and the Chinese HQ-9 complex are participating in the fight. In the same 2007, Russian and Chinese armored personnel carriers competed with each other in the tender of the Ministry of Defense of Thailand. In September 2008, the Indonesian Air Force announced plans to replace the British Hawk Mk-53 combat training aircraft - both Russian Yak-130 and Chinese FTC-2000 can be purchased. In 2009, the MiG-29 won a tender from the Ministry of Defense of Myanmar for the supply of 20 fighters, and their main competitors were the Chinese J-10 and FC-1 aircraft.
The MiG-29 is a fourth generation Soviet / Russian fighter. Mass production of the MiG-29 began in 1982
MiG-29 (Reference)
The MiG-29 is a fourth generation Soviet / Russian fighter. Mass production of the MiG-29 began in 1982, and the country's first fighters were received by the country's Air Force in August 1983. In subsequent years, the design of the MiG-29 has undergone some changes aimed at improving the aircraft's flight performance. At present, RSK "MiG" continues the serial production of improved modifications of the MiG-29, including the modernized MiG-29SMT and MiG-29UB multifunctional fighters.
In 1988, to equip aircraft-carrying cruisers, the MiG-29K aircraft was designed and built with a wing, a landing hook and a reinforced landing gear folding for more compact placement of the aircraft on the ship. On November 1, 1989, for the first time in Russian aviation and the Navy, the MiG-29K fighter took off from the deck of an aircraft-carrying cruiser equipped with a take-off springboard.
Due to its reliability, the MiG-29 is in great demand abroad as well. In total, the Russian Air Force and 25 other countries of the world are armed with over 1600 light MiG-29 fighters.
Flight technical characteristics:
Dimensions: length - 17, 32 m; height - 4.73 m; wingspan - 11, 36 m; wing area - 38 sq. m
Crew: 1 or 2 people.
Maximum speed at sea level: 1500 km / h
Maximum speed at altitude: 2450 km / h
Combat radius: 700 km
Flight range: 2230 km
Service ceiling: 18,000 m
Rate of climb: 19800 m / min
The fighter's armament includes the GSh-301 single-barreled cannon (30 mm, 150 rounds of ammunition). The wing has six (eight for the MiG-29K) cargo suspension points. To combat air targets, six underwing units of the MiG-29 can be installed: six R-60M short-range or R-73 short-range guided missiles (IR) with an infrared guidance system (IR seeker); four melee missiles and two medium-range missiles R-27RE with radar or R-27TE with IR guidance system.
For action on ground targets, the aircraft can carry bombs, blocks of unguided aircraft missiles (NAR) with a caliber of 57 mm, 80 mm, 122 mm, 240 mm, a unified container for small cargoes KMGU-2. It is possible to use an air-to-surface missile X-25M with passive radar, semi-active laser or ship guidance, X-29 (MiG-29K) with TV or laser guidance, a supersonic anti-ship missile X-31A (MiG-29K), a subsonic anti-ship missile X-35.
The MiG-29 surpasses its foreign counterparts in many respects (F-16, F / A-18, Mirage 2000). Thanks to its excellent aerodynamics, it is capable of accelerated acceleration, has a high rate of climb, a small radius of bends, is distinguished by high angular turning speeds and is capable of making long maneuvers with large overloads. The aircraft can effectively conduct active maneuvering combat with the use of a cannon, all-aspect missile combat at close and medium distances, intercept strike and reconnaissance aircraft, including low-flying ones against the background of the earth.
A unique feature of the MiG-29 is the ability to take off with a combat load on one engine with the second engine turned on already in the air, which saves valuable time during an alarm takeoff.
Combat use: MiG-29 fighters were used during the Persian Gulf War (1991), the conflict in Transnistria (1991-1992), NATO operations against Yugoslavia (1999). During the First Chechen War, Russian MiG-29s patrolled the airspace of Chechnya.
