The article was published on “Svobodnaia Pressa” on May 9, 2021. Here is the content: Multi-purpose fighter MiG-35 (Image: Marina Lystseva / TASS) The fourth generation multi-role fighter will be mass produced soon. To be honest, it was only a small amount. But this type of aircraft will have very bright prospects not only in the Russian Air Force, but also in the world military aviation equipment market. And here are the comments of the head of the director of programs MiG-29M, MiG-35 and other light multirole aircraft of the “MiG” Group. Mushegh Baloyan When talking to a TASS reporter about the near future of this model: “The MiG-35 is currently in the state testing phase, with preliminary conclusions to allow the production of the first batch of aircraft. Test pilots loved this model very much because it was easy to maneuver and greatly simplified. There are also some problems arising in the process of operating aircraft, but we (Group “MIG”) together with the customer, the Ministry of Defense in time to resolve all problems “. This MiG-35 aircraft did have a dizzying fate. It is designed-built when the Russian aircraft-building corporation “MiG” is literally feverish for the word. There were very serious problems in financing projects because the Sukhoi Design Bureau, which also makes fighter jets, then pulled all the “financial” blanket toward him. And the consequences of the lack of money are the headaches related to human resources. Those issues touch even the top management of the group — they have not been around for long in their positions. In the mid-2000s, the MiG-35 was unexpectedly listed for a massive tender to buy 126 Indian fighters. However, the proposed MiG-35 at that time was indeed “raw” because it was built in haste. Furthermore, it is equipped with some clearly outdated systems. Bidding is really an adventure. Because at that time, the MiG-35 was not even in service of the Russian Air Force and still not mass produced, so its fate in the bidding was already determined – who dared to quit. Money to buy “crab in the hole” (original – “buy cat in a sack”)? Therefore, this plane was not even on the final list, it was eliminated in the first round. The evaluation panel has listed a series of “weaknesses” of the MiG-35- up to 14 points. All of the above “weaknesses” are not disclosed. However, something has leaked through open sources. The “disparage” is mainly related to the engine because its features are “not in line with the stated” in the bid. And for “Zhuk” radar – according to the announcement, the antenna is an active phase network antenna, however, the “MiG” group has installed a passive network. But six of the planes were built to take part in today’s tests – those were completely different fighters. Between them and the “ugly Indian ducklings”, the only remaining similarity was the fuselage. And now the MiG-35 is again participating in India’s second bid. The results of the first bid can only please the French, because they have sold 36 Raphales to India for an exorbitant price in the country. Once again, the MiG-35 will fight German, French, Swedish and American fighters in India. But for now, it can be said without fear of being bragged that they were “wonderful swans”. The aircraft is equipped with a new version of the RD-33MK engine with outstanding technical and operational features. Its rear combustion (acceleration) thrust increases to 9,400 kgf. The engine uses fully digital control system and plasma ignition method. That means it now meets all requirements for 5th generation aircraft engines. In addition, another engine version can be installed if the customer wishes to- – it has a thrust vector changing nozzle on two planes. It is no coincidence that the MiG-35 was chosen by the stubborn “Strizhi” aerobatic squadron and its pilots decided to switch to this model – because it was super maneuverable and easy to maneuver. . In aircraft-avionics equipment, several systems are also included in the 5th generation. For example, the “Zhuk-A” radar finally has an active phase array antenna. Now, the MiG-35 can detect enemy fighters at a range of up to 200 km. The resolution when taking topographic maps is 1 × 1 meter. MiG-29K The aircraft has an excellent power-to-weight ratio. The combat payload compared to the MiG-29 increased by 2 tons and reached 6.5 tons. It can strike both air and ground targets with the same efficiency because it is fully equipped with modern “air-to-air” and “air-to-ground” missiles. MiG-35 is capable of taking a record altitude in all aircraft participating in this auction of India – up to 330 meters per second. There is also a need to talk about combat radius – up to 1,000 km, and operating range of aircraft without aerial refueling – up to 3,000 km. It must be emphasized that the “technical vision organs” of the MiG-35 are much more diverse than that of the Su-35. The MiG-35 has not only one, but two optical navigation stations with channels of thermal imaging and television. An observation post in the front hemisphere to “serve” the air battles. The second station is designed to observe the ground surface which increases the fighter’s ability to fight against ground targets. The engineers of the “MiG” Group also solved the problem of modernizing this aircraft in an optimal way. Aviation electronic equipment system has an open structure and uses a common data warehouse. This makes connecting new devices as easy as possible – as there is no factory setup and error correction required. Everything is done on the same principle as connecting a new external device to the computer – plugging in the connector, and the operating system recognizes the device and puts it in a general working configuration. The MiG-35 is the second Russian fighter (after the Su-57) to utilize artificial intelligence (AI). Start with some “basic” action – for example, reminding pilots of the imminent danger of maneuvering or when any of the aircraft’s systems are malfunctioning in combat. And even very complex missions. For example, AI can just “look” at a part of an object in the air or on the ground / at sea to be able to immediately determine which type of aircraft or ship, of whom. AI radically interferes with the operation of all systems under special circumstances. For example, if the pilot is unable to control the aircraft due to an injury, the AI ​​can control the aircraft from any distance to the airport and land. In non-emergency conditions, the AI ​​can “advise” the pilot on the use of one or a certain weapon or conduct necessary maneuvers. But despite the plane’s obvious advantages, the Russian Defense Ministry doesn’t seem to trust it. That is why, so we signed a preliminary agreement to buy only 24 units. Yes, that is from now until 2028. But, of course, there are plenty of grounds to believe that this skepticism will vanish at the end of the tests. Currently, the Russian Defense Ministry is working with the “MiG” Group “eagerly” to test the MiG-35. Either way, the deployment of mass production of these machines will be an “inevitable objective”. Because it is necessary to gradually replace 120 MiG-29s, many different variants currently in the equipment of the Russian Air Force. In addition, many different countries also have the MiG-29 and the Air Force of those countries also wants to renew their lineup of light fighters. And so, an additional fifty potential orders could be counted. Yes, there is also a possibility that the MiG-35 will win India’s tender to buy 110 fighter jets. The fighter’s factory-level flight tests were conducted throughout 2017. In order to conduct state-of-the-art flight tests, the aircraft factory in Lukhovitsy built six MiG-35s – three MiG-35S single-seater and three MiG-35UB trainers. And for almost two years now, the six aforementioned aircraft have been tested in many different flight modes. They will themselves be handed over to the “Strizhi” airborne aerobatic squadron as mentioned above. Le Hung- Nguyen Hoang (Translate)

Turkey’s “Anka” drone (Image: wikimedia) The new attack drone (UAV, drone-ND) “Simsek” (“Lightning”) was introduced to the public by Turkish Aerospace company of Turkey this week. Unlike another UAV which is currently very famous in Turkey, “Bauyraktar”, UAV “Lightning” is a drone – kamikaze (UAV suicide, UAV is also known as flying bullets. wait-ND) – it plunges into the target and detonates the warhead. UAV- kamikaze Simsek Turkey At first glance, this is not something too new – “Simsek” is not the first type of bullets waiting to fly. The Israelis and the Americans have accumulated a lot of valuable experience in this field. Yes, and Russia already has some such design. But nevertheless, the uniqueness of the Turkish “Lightning” is that it was brought to the launch point by another drone with a larger engine power – that is, the “Anka” UAV, which also came to the fore. Turkish company aforementioned design. UAV “Anka” – a version similar to “Predator” USA and also has a useful payload of 200 kg. It has two hangers under the wings, and therefore, is capable of carrying two Simsek-kamikaze UAVs within a range of about 500 km. And as a result, it greatly increased the range of the offensive weapon (ie UAV “Simsek”). And also so that there is no need to use a manned air force to perform the same mission. To create “Simsek”, the Turks took 12 years. This project has been in operation since 2009. But in the early days, the Turks had no intention of building “Simsek” into UAV-kamikaze, but rather to build a type of high-speed aerial target to test the air defense systems, as well as for testing of “air-to-air” class cruise missiles launched from fighter aircraft. And also do not understand why the Tho kept silent during the project to build this suicide drone. Until the end of last April, General Director of Turkish Aerospace (Turkish Airlines – Aerospace) Temel Kotil recently revealed some details about the project in an interview with CNN Turk. Mr. Kotil said that the combat head weight of “Simsek” is 5 kg. The flight distance after launching from “Anka” is 100-200 km. This UAV is equipped with a jet turbine engine, so it is quite high speed. In addition, the Turkish Aerospace’s General Manager also added that it is highly maneuverable. However, I really don’t understand what this UAV model needs to be maneuverable for. Mr. Kotil did not disclose how to control the drone. He spoke briefly about: a) it is fully autonomous and b) capable of being directed to the target in direct line of sight, either from a drone or from an operator. underground. “Simsek” is capable of destroying fixed targets on the ground. From the aforementioned “a” point, we can see that the navigation for this type of projectile is carried out by GPS signals. Therefore, the most effective method to “treat” the UAV “Simsek” is to suppress satellite positioning signals with electronic warfare systems. From point “b”, it can be concluded that navigation can be done by radio command, or by laser beam. To do this, the appropriate equipment must be installed on the UAVs. And there is another very important issue. The maximum distance from the target to the launch point of the UAV-carrier is 700 km (500 km for “Anka” + 200 km for “Simsek”). In order to connect these two drones when selecting a target and choosing to attack the target, it is necessary to have a control officer at the UAV launch site – the vehicle carrying “Anka”. And so, need a high-speed satellite communication channel. Many experts believe that after a while “Simsek” Turkey will “learn” how to attack mobile targets on the ground. However, to do that, it will either have to be equipped with a self-conducting terminal – either infrared or active radar, or be able to exchange information through a reliable data transmission channel. to control the flight path. It is reported that Turkish Aerospace will produce up to one hundred “Simsek” drones per year. At this point, it must be said that Russia was ahead of Turkey in making flying ammo. But, unfortunately, up to now this is only one step ahead in terms of fabrication timelines. The two drones – kamikaze of the Zala Aero company of the “Kalashnikov” group have successfully passed the “brides face view at the Syrian shooting range”. These were UAVs “Kub” and UAVs “Lancet”. These two types of UAVs were built with a gap of nearly 2 years. However, in terms of strength, they are more modest than the “Turks”. The combat head weight of “Kub” – 3 kg. Of “Lancet-1” – 1 kg. And “Lancet-3” – up to 3 kilograms. And they are launched by traditional methods – with catapults. The shorter operating distance (Simsek) is considerable – only 30 km to 40 km. Speed ​​- from 80 to 130 km / h. Flight time is 30 minutes. But in return, the Russian works to realize on the UAVs on other features, also extremely important, a much more skillful way. All three of the aforementioned Russian drones are quite similar, only “Lancet-1” is slightly different – it has a smaller size and weight, only 5 kg. On all three UAVs there is a television camera – it is used by an officer on the ground to guide the UAV to a target. As a result, the maximum error when attacking their target did not exceed 2 meters. The mean error is even less. The image from the camera is transmitted via the anti-noise channel to the ground control point, and from this control point, the UAV is directed to the target. In addition, the Russian drone – kamikaze is able to operate independently, without the involvement of an operator – it flies to the target according to coordinates that have been pre-installed in memory. And this type of waiting-flying ammunition made by the Russian company Zala Aero also has a very “top notch” feature – that is the ability to stealth. It is completely understandable that they are made of composite materials, – an almost imperative requirement today. But at the same time, “Kub” ‘s body was shaped like a bird. And it moves in the air like a bird, except without flapping its wings. But there is a special mode that simulates the flight path of the birds. The “Lancet” has a more complex aerodynamic configuration – a vertically double fuselage with two pairs of X-shaped wings. At the same time, according to the design engineers, the drone is nearly “flying in silence. ”(Make no noise). They have different flight patterns. Can fly to the target at an altitude of 3-4 meters, and follow the terrain folds. They can also attack targets from a height of 4.5 km. This method is used when attacking a tank in the least protected top view. Unlike Turkish kamikaze, Russian drones are capable of attacking mobile targets. In addition, the designers “Kub” and “Lancet” asserted that such a stand-by bullet attack would be much cheaper than using a self-propelled howitzer. Therefore, there is a bright prospect for large-scale production of kamikaze drones to use them for mass attacks on enemy battlefields. The “ZALA Lancet” suicide drone of the “Kalashnikov” Group (Photo: Marina Lystseva / TASS) With such a spirit, it is advisable to pay attention to a comment of the US newspaper Washington Post – a newspaper with very “enthusiastic” responses to the drones – kamikaze of the Russian “Kalashnikov” Group. on display at the IDEX-2019 international weapons exhibition. This American newspaper suddenly announced that this was truly a revolution in the world of weapons, and the Russian drones presented at the show were, in fact, “a rifle. attack the modern Kalashnikov (AK) “. The strange thing is that both the US and Israel have suicide drones, at least not worse than Russian suicide drones. However, the Americans were convinced by the low cost and simplicity of use of the Russian “Kalashnikov” product. Knowing how, we won’t argue with them on this topic. Le Hung- Nguyen Hoang (Translate)