Romanian aerospace company Aerostar is taking the wraps off an upgraded Mikoyan MiG-21bis at the show. The company has been working privately on the aircraft in response to interest from potential customers.
The upgrade follows on from a $300 million programme being undertaken by Aerostar with Elbit of Israel to refit Romania's MiG-21MF fighters to a higher standard with the addition of advanced cockpit avionics, radar improvements and Python 3 missiles.
Aerostar has acquired a MiG-21bis airframe and carried out a trial upgrade based on the work carried out with Elbit on earlier versions of the MiG-21. The aircraft has been prepared to preflight standard and then dismantled to be shown at Farnborough in the static display. It will take part in a series of 40 test flights at the Aerostar facility in Bacau after the show, after which it will be offered for sale.
The bis is the most widely used Soviet variant, with over 2,200 produced, most of which remain in service. The type is fitted with the more powerful R-25 turbojet in place of the earlier R-13, better avionics and a bigger dorsal fairing with higher fuel capacity and extra avionics space.
Source: Flight International
