Russia's MiG-35 Fulcrum-F: Ready for Battle against America's F-22 or F-35?
蘇聯重新啟動米格-35 戰鬥機對抗美國F-22.F-35 ?蘇聯原本在2016年夏季取得MIG-35 列裝空軍,由於某些故障與零部件企業合作延遲交付,使得計劃延宕到2018年才可達成任務,西方軍事觀察家分析認為美國與北約日後的主力戰鬥機皆為F-22.F-35尤其是英國已訂購F-35C做為其新航空母艦伊利莎白女王號的艦載機,也是將於2018年夏季時分交機,所以說現在的英國新航空母艦是空船,只能等待新的F-35C.
The Mikoyan MiG-35 Fulcrum-F is set to enter testing in 2017 with deliveries to the Russian Aerospace Forces starting in 2018. Flight tests for the new advanced Fulcrum derivative—which were originally scheduled for this summer—have been pushed back due to production delays.“Development work under contract with the Ministry of Defense on the MiG-35 is currently ongoing,” Vladimir Mikhailov, the head of United Aircraft Corporation’s (UAC) directorate of military aircraft, told the Moscow-based TASS news agency. “They are a little behind schedule because of some fault with enterprise cooperation delaying deliveries of components, but we can say that in general the problem is solved.”
However, UAC’s Russian Aircraft Corporation-MiG division expects to make up for the production delays next year. “We will catch up with the schedule in 2017,” Mikhailov said. “The will be a very brief trial of the machine since the prototype has already repeatedly proven itself. The aircraft will be supplied to the VKS [Vozdushno-Kosmicheskiye Sily] in 2018.”
UAC has not signed a production contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense. That will have to wait until the MiG-35 completes testing. However, the Russian Air Force was previously expected to buy an initial batch of thirty-seven MiG-35s. The jet is expected to become operational in 2020.
The MiG-35 is an advanced derivative of the original MiG-29. While the airframe is similar, the aircraft is practically a new design under the hood. Compared the to original Fulcrum, the MiG-35 adds a completely new fly-by-wire control system, a lighter airframe, more fuel capacity, more efficient engines and thrust-vectoring nozzles. Moreover, the Russians are developing single and two-seater versions of the jet based on the same outer mold line to maximize commonality.
More importantly, the MiG-35 will add a completely new avionics suite. The new jet will incorporate Russia’s first operational fighter-mounted active electronically scanned array radar—called the Zhuk-MA. The radar is able to track fighter-sized targets at ranges greater than 85 nautical miles.
The MiG-35 will also be equipped with a unique optical locator system (OLS)—which is a passive air-to-air electro-optical sensor that operates in both visual and infrared wavelengths. The Russians believe that the OLS sensor will be useful in countering stealthy aircraft like the F-22 and F-35. The MiG-35 will also incorporate a powerful electronic warfare suite—an area where the Russians excel.
RSK-MiG—which falls under the aegis of the United Aircraft Corporation alongside arch-rival Sukhoi—hopes to recapture some the Mikoyan design bureau’s old glory with the new advanced MiG-29 derivative. RSK-MiG’s Fulcrum product line has been overshadowed by Sukhoi’s larger and more capable Flanker series in the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The MiG-35 might be the RSK-MiG’s last hope of regaining some of its lost market share on the international fighter market.
米格-35是原來的米格-29的高級衍生物。雖然機身相似，該機實際上是引擎蓋下的新設計。相比原來的支點，米格-35增加了一個全新的飛行線控控制系統，機身更輕，更省油能力，更高效的發動機和推力矢量噴嘴。此外，俄羅斯正在開發基於相同的外模線，最大限度共性射流單，雙座版本。
更重要的是，米格-35將增加一個全新的航空電子設備套件。新飛機將納入俄羅斯的第一個業務戰機安裝有源電子掃描陣列雷達叫的Zhuk-MA。該雷達能夠在範圍超過85海裡的跟踪戰鬥機大小的目標。
米格35也將配備一個獨特的光學定位系統（OLS）哪位是，在這兩種視覺和紅外波長操作的被動空氣 - 空氣光電傳感器。俄俄羅斯認為，OLS傳感器會打擊隱形飛機類似F-22和F-35是有用的。米格-35也將採用強大的電子戰設備安在哪裡俄羅斯擅長的區域。
