Hi, what are you looking for?

What happened to Russia’s MiG-35 ? Hyped as a fourth-generation “plus-plus” fighter that would give the Russian air force needed punch and enviable combat presence for export, only 30 of the Fulcrums have been made since 2019. 

This conundrum has been going on since 2020 when at the time the Russians only ordered six airplanes. This program is starting to look like a boondoggle that failed to make a splash domestically or in the export market. Let’s unpeel the mysterious onion that is the MiG-35 Fulcrum.

The Outgrowth of the MiG-29

The MiG-35 is based on a MiG-29 design and two MiG-29 variants – the K and M . The Fulcrum took its initial flight in 2016. The MiG-35 is meant to be a multi-role fighter able to take on air superiority, intercept enemy fighters, strike ground targets, and perform reconnaissance missions. The MiG-35 boasts a passive electronically scanned array and electro-optical sensors with the ability to track multiple in-air, sea, and ground targets. 

Quality Engines Give it Substantial Speed and Thrust

Powered by two FADEC RD-33MK turbofan engines, the MiG-35 has a maximum speed of Mach 2.25 and a 52,000-foot service ceiling. The modern engines offer high maneuverability and “are equipped with failure detection systems, compressor speed governors and LP turbine exit temperature limiter, surge, ice and fire detectors,” according to Rosoboronexport .

The MiG-35’s cockpit is up to date. It features three color liquid-crystal displays and a helmet-mounted display. The pilot has a missile approach warning system with 360 degrees of coverage. The airplane includes optional electronic warfare capabilities that can jam enemy radar.

The MiG-35 contains modern munitions such as air-to-air missiles. These armaments include the RVV-SD , an updated R-77 , and the Kh-38 air-to-ground missile. Precision-guided bombs and dumb bombs can also be dropped.

With all these enviable characteristics, the MiG-35 should be dominating the skies over Ukraine or emerging as a hit on the export market – or both. That has not come to pass. India and Egypt were interested in the MiG-35 but ended up not making the purchase. The MiG-35 is going up against substantial competition from the French Rafale, the American F/A-18, F-16 and F-15, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and the Saab Gripen. 

Developing Nations Don’t Have the Money or Inclination to Buy

Argentina, Bangladesh, and Malaysia have kicked the tires too, but these are minor air forces in countries with limited budgets. It would make the most sense for Malaysia to buy the MiG-35 since they have China to worry about. The Malaysians had MiG-29s but could not get spare parts from Russia,  and they are expensive to keep airborne. MiG-35s are considered too pricey and high maintenance for the Malaysian military. 

MiG-35 also does not have a combat record, since it is a relatively new airplane. F-16s , alternatively, have enjoyed broad combat success over the decades and are less expensive than the MiG-35. Countries also worry about getting spare parts from Russia as many suppliers are under international financial sanctions.

Getting Lost in the Shuffle

The development of the MiG-35 is a cautionary tail in that it is trying to penetrate an export market in which customers have many choices. Some specs are robust, especially when it comes to radar and sensors in addition to a powerful engine. Maintenance is a problem for a fighter with such modern accessories. Potential customers must be concerned with the cost of maintaining the airplane without readily available spare parts. The other problem for the future of the MiG-35 is the emergence of the Su-57 and Su-75 – both fighters with stealth characteristics that can outclass the MiG-35. So, the MiG-35 has a challenging future ahead of it – not ready for domestic use or export market growth.

Now serving as 1945’s Defense and National Security Editor, Brent M. Eastwood , PhD, is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare . He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood .

Now serving as 1945s New Defense and National Security Editor, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer.

That and if Russia doesn’t use it or can’t… why should anyone else? 🤣🤣 just keeping it real.

This guy is a clown

Totally and just two letters away from another known holywood asswipe.. he doesn’t mention that many countries are threatened by the U.S sanctions if they buy Russian jets. Russia should threatened the U.S with nukes or just threatened to stop letting Israel bomb Syria and you will see that the Yids will make the U.S kiss putins boots. Just threat Israel with nukes and you will get the U.S to do what you want

As a result of it failures, Ukraine is losing a war and more countries are ordering MI 35. Lol?

Malaysia has 18 sukhoi mkm30 not just mig29..

I really like the fact that people in the comments are being real and not biased. The writer doesn’t know a crap about what he is talking and MiG-35 and most modern Russian aircraft are beasts, although I must agree that they haven’t seen much combat experience.

This guy is something else and behind the times I’ve read numerous articles,even on su-57 from various sources there’s alot more than 3 operational su 57’s as this author claimed,just because russia decides to assign number 51 through 54 on specific su57 doesn’t mean that there is 3 operational su 57’s in existence,tho author seems to like to diss Russia aircraft,but holds Ukraine as the powerhouse of europe,had it not been for Ukraine constant crying for working useable weapons since February to multi countries,Ukraine wouldn’t have a pot to piss in,and so sick of Voldemort zelenskyy with his crying and begging for help over half of southern and eastern ukraine 70% destroyed even with the addition of us british german poland Australian Slovakia weapons and yet ukraine still not gaining any momentum in the so called war of his,however Ukraine needs to get stronger before taking on a superpower such as Russia etc,although USA isn’t here to fight for Voldemort zelenskyy or Ukraine for that matters

Just go on YouTube and see what the SU-35 is capable of. Can’t say much of the so called famous non flying piece of junk that is called the F-35 that is already discontinued before it could even make a name for itself.

This guy is a clown. His titles and writing are just dripping with nonsense propaganda rhetoric to the point of total cringe. Spoiled, overpaid, former officer who still thinks like every American child: the US is invincible and perfect and everyone else is completely retarded. This extreme arrogance that prevails even among the western “elite” is very dangerous and is going to get people killed.

Everyday you are losing morre credit , being western does not mean that you keep lying about Russian or Chinese armaments ,people are not stupid. Shame on you

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.