RSK MiG has completed the overhaul and upgrade of four Serbian air force MiG-29s, company deputy director-general Vladimir Barkovsky announced at the show.
The air arm was desperate to have the aircraft returned to service to ensure the control of Serbian airspace, a task Belgrade’s elderly MiG-21s were finding increasingly difficult, according to comments last year by the service’s commander-in-chief Maj-Gen Dragan Katanic. A fifth MiG-29 was also due to be upgraded but this was reduced for fiscal reasons last year.
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Barkovsky said that RSK MiG had now started a “second phase” of the upgrade programme, which is believed to refer to un-airworthy MiG-29s in the Serbian inventory.
He also revealed that the first serial production MiG-29K for the Indian Navy was in flight-test and that Indian naval personnel were due to arrive in Russia imminently for training on the type. Flight Daily News understands that the first two MiG-29Ks and two MiG-29KUBs will be delivered in November.
Barkovsky also said work was under way on upgrading the Indian air force’s 66 first-generation MiG-29s. “We plan to carry this out at repair depots in India, but the first batch will be upgraded at MiG,” he says.
Source: Flight International
