RUSSIA ANNOUNCES THE CONCLUDED SALES TALKS OF FIVE MIG 29 FIGHTER JETS TO SRI LANKA NAVY

By Walter Jayawardhana

Moscow ’s Russian Information Center announced that the State Corporation for Russian Defence Export has concluded negotiations to sell five Mig-29 fighter jets to Sri Lanka ’s Navy.
Believed to be used in the final assault on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the modern Russian aircraft is widely used by the Russian and Indian Airforces.

Unlike the older versions of Migs Sri Lanka bought earlier the air crafts are not only capable of carrying air to ground missiles but also air to air missiles that could destroy enemy aircraft flying. They could also do night flying.
Mig 29 ‘s were originally developed to fight the powerful US aircraft F16 Falcons and F/ A 18 Hornets of the United States airforce.

The Russian web site announced that the five Mig 29 jets belong to varieties of the Mig 29. Four of them will be Mig 29 SMs which are purely fighter jets and one will be Mig 29 UB which has both fighting as well as training capabilities.

The five jet aircraft will “broaden the capabilities of the Sri Lanka navy military aircraft park that now consists of four modernized MiG-27. The deal has been estimated at $US75 million.” The website further said.

The Russian website said before the state to state deal was concluded “Sri Lanka also held negotiations with India , Pakistan , and China over new fighter jets purchasing, but the Russian proposal looked most beneficial.”

“The Mikoyan MiG-29 is a 4th generation jet fighter aircraft designed for the air superiority role in the former Soviet Union. “Developed in the 1970s by the Mikoyan design bureau, it entered service in 1983 and remains in use by the Russian Air Force as well as in many other nations. NATO’s reporting name for the MiG-29 is "Fulcrum", which was unofficially used by Soviet pilots in service.”

The MiG-29S also has a limited ground-attack capability with unguided munitions, but in order to transform the MiG-29 into a true multi-role fighter, MAPO designed the MiG-29SM variant with the improved avionics necessary to carry and employ precision-guided weapons. The 'SE/SD/SM' improvements in the MiG-29S, combined with the development money made available for the naval MiG-29K, gave MAPO the incentive to forge ahead with the multirole MiG-29M (a.k.a MiG-33) "Super Fulcrum".
Flight performance of the MiG-29S is but slightly reduced compared to the original MiG-29 due to the weight of the additional fuel and avionics. Only 48 MiG-29S airframes were produced for the Russian VVS before funding was cut. Of this number, it is unknown how many are the standard air-superiority 'S' version and how many are the multi-role 'SM' version.”
MiG-29SM "Fulcrum-C" (Product 9.13M) is Similar to the 9.13, but with the ability to carry guided air to surface missiles and TV- and laser guided bombs.

MiG-29KUB "Fulcrum-D" (Product 9.47) is Identical in characteristics to the MiG-29K but with tandem twin seat configuration. The design is to serve as trainer for MiG-29K pilot and is full combat capable. The first MiG-29KUB developed for the Indian Navy made its maiden flight at the Russian Zhukovsky aircraft test centre on January 22 2007.