MiG-MAPO is offering to upgrade Polish air force Mikoyan MiG-29SE Fulcrums as an alternative to Poland procuring Western combat aircraft, according to a senior company official.
The Polish air force is interested in improving its fighter-combat capability with the Lockheed Martin F-16, thought to be the favoured political choice.
MiG-MAPO is, however, pushing alternatives, including an upgrade programme to the air force's MiG-29E fleet, which would modify the aircraft to the MiG-29SE Fulcrum C standard.
Youri Polushkin, a divisional chief with MiG-MAPO, says: "We are offering this upgrade to all countries which have the MiG-29E." He adds that a Polish military delegation visiting the MosAero show had been briefed on the proposal.
The MiG-29SE differs from the E in several critical aspects. The most important difference is its ability to engage two targets simultaneously and its ability to carrying the export variant of the active-radar-guided Vympel R-77, referred to by some as the RVV-AE.
Polushkin says that the RVV-AE "...will be available for a wide range of countries, but not all."
Sections of the Polish Government favour a US purchase as Poland tries to move closer to NATO. The US offer, however, provides less capability in some areas of combat.
According to sources close to the US-Polish discussions, the F-16 proposal would be based around secondhand A/B Block 15 aircraft. If a beyond-visual-range missile were to be provided, it would be only the semi-active Raytheon AIM-7 Sparrow.
It is unlikely that the US Department of Defense would sanction the release of the active-radar-guided Hughes AIM-120 to Poland in the near- to- medium term.
Another alternative for the Polish air force would be to eventually procure the MiG-29M. Polushkin says that MiG-MAPO has not yet discussed this option.
The MiG-29M programme is to receive funding from the Government after a three-year hiatus. Polushkin says that Mikoyan argued with the Russian Government that if it were to succeed with the MiG-29M on the export market, then Government funding for the programme, and eventually a Russian air force order, were necessary.
He says that the programme is some 12-18 months from completion, but he is hopeful that the aircraft could enter unit service with the Russian air force around the turn of the century.
One MiG-29 upgrade programme which is proceeding is for the German air force's MiG-29 fighters. MiG Aircraft Production Support (MAPS), the joint venture between Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) and the Moscow Aircraft Production Group (MAPO), will perform the upgrade.
Starting in the fourth quarter of this year, the Manching-based company will embark on a programme to increase the time between overhauls of the aircraft from 800 to 1,100 flying hours. At the same time, DASA engine subsidiary MTU will carry out work to extend the engine TBO in stages to 500h, then 700h.
The engine upgrade will also increase the operational life from 900h to 1,200h, then 1,600h.
Further upgrades will include the Westernisation of avionics and navigation systems, with the installation of a new TACAN, identification friend-or-foe (IFF) unit, UHF/VHF radio and a Rockwell-Collins global-positioning system (GPS).
The upgrades are to be carried out to the 24 aircraft incorporated into the German air force from the former East German air force, and MAPS is also trying to persuade other MiG-29 operators to use its services. According to managing director Berndt Wnsche, interest has already been shown by Malaysia, although approval from MAPO is needed before any further work is taken on.
Source: Flight International
