On July 28 of this year, the ship-borne fighter MiG-29KUB, which has tail number 204, made its first landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, which is undergoing testing in the Barents Sea. The plane was piloted by two well-known test pilots in Russia: senior test pilot of the A.V. Fedotov Flight Test Center Mikhail Belyaev and honored test pilot, Hero of Russia Nikolai Diorditsa.
Currently, another fighter is being prepared for landing on an aircraft carrier - the single-seat MiG-29K. It may be noted that successful work test pilots drew a line under the transformation of the former aircraft-carrying cruiser"Admiral Gorshkov" into a full-fledged light aircraft carrier "Vikramaditya".
The future flagship of the Indian fleet began testing on June 8, 2012 after a fairly lengthy re-equipment at Sevmashpredpriyatie (Severodvinsk). Before the ship is delivered to the Indian Navy in December 2012, the aircraft carrier must undergo a series of four-month tests. During this time, it is planned to check the elements and systems of its design that were installed on the ship during the modernization.
In addition, testing is also required large number aviation technical equipment responsible for flight support. In particular, we are talking about an optical landing system, aerofinishers, launch delays, aviation control and communications equipment, etc. For these purposes, MiG-29K/KUB ship-based fighters were involved in testing, which are carried out according to a plan agreed with the customer. After the procedure of transferring the ship to the Indian Navy, these are the fighters Russian production will form the basis of the air group of the light aircraft carrier Vikramaditya.
The aircraft carrier Vikramaditya was built on the basis of the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser (TAKR) Admiral Gorshkov by carrying out a deep modernization of the latter. The ship, in fact, underwent a complete reconstruction procedure, during which it changed its original purpose. Instead of an aircraft-carrying anti-submarine cruiser, the ship turned into a full-fledged light aircraft carrier. In the process of deep modernization of the ship's hull, most of the elements located above the waterline were replaced, all weapons were dismantled and new ones, exclusively anti-aircraft, were installed, and the boilers of the power plant were replaced.
The ship's hangar also underwent reconstruction. A springboard, a three-cable aerofinisher, an optical landing system, and 2 lifts were mounted on the deck. As a result of the work done, the aircraft carrier is able to take on board aircraft weighing up to 25 tons. At present, the composition of the aircraft carrier's air group has already been determined, which will include 14-16 MiG-29K fighters, 4 MiG 29-KUB, as well as up to 8 Ka-28 helicopters, 1 Ka-31 AWACS helicopter, and up to 3 Indian HAL Dhruv helicopters.
Initially, Indian pilots are trained on an electronic naval aviation simulator. The necessary infrastructure will be created to base the aircraft carrier at the naval base in Mumbai. Currently, the 2nd aircraft carrier, which is made according to India’s own design, has already been laid down at the Indian shipyards in the city of Cochin.
In total, the Indian Navy purchased 45 MiG-29K/KUB fighters from Russia. Having concluded a contract for the supply of 16 aircraft in 2004, and then in 2010 confirming an option for the supply of another 29 aircraft. Delivery of aircraft to India began in 2009. It was in 2009 that Russian pilots M. Belyaev and N. Diorditsa first landed a MiG-29KUB with Indian markings on board on the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. Having performed brilliant flights on a Russian aircraft carrier, Russian pilots opened the way for the aircraft to reach the customer. In 2011, the MiG Corporation completed deliveries of fighter aircraft under the first contract and began implementing the second.
According to the general director of RSK MiG Sergei Korotkov, work on the production of fighters is on schedule, and in 2012 India will be able to receive 3 aircraft from the new batch. Also, the head of RSK MiG considered it necessary to personally participate in organizing the first landing of fighter jets on the deck of Vikramaditya. The presence of the head of an aircraft manufacturing company on the most important and complex test flights is becoming an industry tradition.
The meaning of such presence is not only that the work must be carried out and organized at the highest level, but also in the readiness to be personally responsible for everything that happens on earth and in the sky. The responsibility in this case is really great, because in addition to the delivery of the Vikramaditya to the customer, during these test flights the Russian admirals were once again convinced that they had made the right choice by ordering the MiG-29K/KUB fighters for the Russian naval aviation.
On the eve of the Day Navy Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral Admiral Viktor Chirkov said that as part of the modernization program for the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, by 2020 the ship should receive new MiG-29K fighters, which will replace Su-33 fighters. Also, according to the commander-in-chief, Russian design bureaus received tasks to design a new aircraft carrier, cash have already been allocated for this work. In February 2012, the Russian Navy signed a contract for the supply of 24 fighters: 20 MiG-29K and 4 MiG-29KUB, the contract period is 2013-2015.
According to Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, signing a contract for the supply of these fighters is a real contribution to the implementation of a long-term program that is aimed at re-equipping the Russian Armed Forces. Following the Air Force, the country's naval aviation will be able to receive modern combat aircraft, which today are not inferior to their foreign analogues. It is worth recognizing that today in the class of carrier-based fighters for light aircraft carriers, the MiG-29K/KUB are beyond competition.
There are simply no foreign aircraft in this STOBAR (Short take-off but arrested recovery) class, although Western companies are working on creating these machines based on already created “4+” generation fighters.
Modern serial carrier-based fighters F/A-18E/F and Rafal-M belong to another class - CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery - take-off from a catapult, landing on an arresting arrester). To base them, larger ships are needed, preferably with a nuclear power plant.
However, even against the background of the already mentioned Western carrier-based fighters, the MiG-29K/KUB looks like a quite competitive machine. Technological level main systems Russian fighter, including an optical-electronic complex and radar, at least no worse. The flight performance characteristics of these fighters are also comparable. At the same time, the new F-35C and F-35B from the USA are significantly more expensive than the already mentioned “Super Hornet” and “Rafale” and have not yet reached the stage of eliminating all “childhood diseases”.
It should be noted that MiG-29K/KUB fighters have significant potential for further development . These models are a deep modernization of the MiG-29 fighter and have retained only the aerodynamic concept from their progenitor. According to Sergei Korotkov, these aircraft have a new airframe, more than twice as large combat load, engines with increased thrust, 1.5 times increased fuel supply.
The open architecture of avionics makes it possible to further increase the capabilities of the fighter and expand the range of weapons used. When designing it, the requirements to reduce the visibility of the aircraft in the radar range were taken into account.
Ship-based MiGs are multifunctional all-weather fighters belonging to the “4++” generation. Their task is to provide air and anti-ship defense to ship formations, as well as to strike enemy ground targets. In a group carrier-based aviation The MiG-29K is assigned the same multifunctional role as the similar American F/A-18. It simultaneously acts as an aircraft for gaining air superiority at short distances and as an attack aircraft. The aircraft can also be used as a reconnaissance aircraft.
A number of additions were made to the deck version of the MiG-29K fighter significant changes . Its airframe structure was strengthened, its anti-corrosion protection was also improved, the landing gear was strengthened, and the front strut mechanism was completely rebuilt for ship-based use, the proportion of composite materials in the design was increased to 15%, a hook (landing hook) was installed, the landing parachute and wings were removed The aircraft were made folding, an in-flight refueling system was installed, the wing mechanization system was changed to improve takeoff and landing characteristics, the mass of weapons used was increased, and the visibility of the aircraft in the radar range was reduced.
The aircraft was equipped with RD-33MK engines, avionics standard MIL-STD-1553B with open architecture, and a new electric remote control system with fourfold redundancy. The aircraft can be armed with R-73E and RVV-AE guided missiles for air combat, Kh-31A and Kh-35 anti-ship missiles, KAB-500Kr guided bombs for hitting surface and ground targets, and Kh-31P anti-radar missiles.
Ways have been worked out to further increase the capabilities of the fighter's avionics, for example, on the serial MiG-29M/M2, which is a land version of the MiG-29K, optical-electronic systems for detecting laser irradiation and attack missiles are installed. Together with existing electronic warfare equipment, they are able to significantly increase the survivability of a fighter during an air defense breakthrough or in an air battle.
Also the next stage of modernization may be the installation of a new radar with an active phased array antenna. The first samples of this radar have already been tested on MiG-35 fighters and have proven their promise and performance.
Performance characteristics of the MiG-29K:
Dimensions:
— wing span when parked on an aircraft carrier is 7.8 m, full — 11.99 m.
- length - 17.37 m.
– height – 4.4 m.
Wing area – 42 sq. m.
Aircraft weight:
- normal take-off - 18,500 kg.
- maximum take-off - 24,500 kg.
Engine type: RD-33MK dual-circuit turbojet with afterburner.
Maximum speed at an altitude - 2200 km/h, at the ground - 1400 km/h.
Ferry range:
without PTB – 2000 km.
with 3 PTB – 3000 km.
with 3 PTBs and one in-flight refueling – 5500 km.
Service ceiling – 17,500 m.
Crew – 1 person (2 people on the MiG-29KUB).
Armament: 30-mm automatic cannon GSh-301 (150 rounds), combat load 4500 kg, on 8 hardpoints.
Mig-29K - Single-seat shipborne fighter for deployment on the TAVKR type "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov"
TTX Mig-29K:
Wing span, m at aircraft carrier parking 7.80 full 11.99
Length, m 17.37
Height, m 5.18
Wing area, m2 42.00
Weight, kg empty aircraft 12700
normal takeoff 17770
maximum takeoff 22400
Fuel, kg internal 5670
maximum with PTB 9470
Engine type 2 TRDDF RD-33I Thrust, kgf 2 x 9400
Maximum speed, km/h
at an altitude of 2300 (M=2.17)
near the ground 1400
Practical range, km: at low altitude 750 at high altitude 1650 at high altitude with PTB 3000 with one refueling 5700
Maximum rate of climb, m/min 18000
Practical ceiling, m 17000
Run length, m 110-195
Run length, m 150-300
Operational overload 8.5 Crew, persons 1
Weapons:
30-mm gun GSh-301 (ammunition 150 rounds),
combat load - 4500 kg on 9 hardpoints:
Air-to-air medium-range missiles R-27 and RVV-AE, short-range missiles R-73, anti-ship Kh-31A, anti-radar Kh-31P, air-to-surface missiles Kh-25ML, Kh-29T, Kh-29L, NUR , KAB with laser and television guidance, free-falling bombs and aircraft mines.
The first version of the MiG-29K carrier-based fighter (still based on the 9-12 type) with ejection takeoff and landing on an aerofinisher was developed at the preliminary design level in 1978 and differed from the basic type in a reinforced landing gear, the introduction of a landing hook, additional anti-corrosion protection for the airframe, increased fuel reserves and modified navigation equipment. Design of the MiG-29K type 9-31 with a significantly modified design and fundamentally new system armament began in 1984. Due to the specific conditions of deployment on the ship, in design terms the MiG-29K had a number of features in comparison with the MiG-29M.
When developing deck modification units, much attention was paid to protecting the aircraft from corrosion, taking into account the “marine” requirements for coatings, materials and sealing of individual elements. Due to the increased loads during landing, the central tank, the power compartment of the hull located behind it, to which the main landing gear and brake hook were attached, as well as the bow of the hull in the area of the front landing gear, were significantly strengthened. In the tail section, instead of a parachute braking unit, a hook damping mechanism and a rescueable emergency recorder were placed. Like the MiG-29M, a brake flap with an area of about 1 m 2 is installed on the upper surface of the MiG-29K hull. The area of the stabilizer has increased, and it has received a characteristic “tooth” along the leading edge. The wing span and area increased to 11.99 m and 43 m 2, respectively, its mechanization changed - double-slit flaps with an increased chord and ailerons that hovered during landing appeared on the ship-based fighter.
To reduce the parking overall dimensions of the aircraft when placed on the deck of a ship and in below-deck hangars, the wing consoles of the MiG-29K were folded by means of a hydraulic drive and controlled from the cockpit. In the folded position, the wing span was reduced to 7.8 m.
The landing gear struts had a greater length, increased shock absorber travel, and were equipped with mooring and towing units by ship means. To be placed in the retracted position in the previous volumes of the body, the racks of the main supports were equipped with pull-up mechanisms. The controlled strut of the front landing gear began to rotate at an angle of up to 90 €. A three-color indicator was installed on its struts, the lights of which informed the landing director about the position of the aircraft on the glide path and its landing speed. All pneumatics gave way to new ones - higher pressure (20 kgf/cm 2). The brake hook was located under the tail of the hull between the engine nacelles and was equipped with a release, pull-up and damping system. To ensure visual control landing on the deck at night there was a hook illumination system.
Like the MiG-29M, the ship's vehicle was equipped with an analog-digital fly-by-wire control system with three- and four-fold redundancy on all three channels, with mechanical duplication in the roll and direction channels. The aircraft also did not have upper air intakes, and its fuel system was redesigned accordingly (the internal fuel supply was 5670 liters). In the event of an emergency landing, to reduce the weight of the vehicle to the maximum permissible, the possibility of emergency fuel drainage was provided. To increase the flight range, the MiG-29K was equipped with an in-flight refueling system from a tanker aircraft (for example, Il-78), equipped with a unified suspended refueling unit UPAZ. The retractable refueling rod was located ahead of the cockpit on the left. At night, the rod was illuminated with a special headlight.
The MiG-29K power plant consisted of two RD-33K bypass turbojet engines, which had a comprehensive digital control system. Engine thrust at maximum mode was increased to 5500 kgf, at full afterburner - to 8800 kgf. Unlike the RD-33K turbofan engines used on the MiG-29M, the engines of the ship-based fighter were provided with an emergency operating mode (ER), in which the thrust briefly increased to 9400 kgf. The CR guaranteed takeoff from a ship of an aircraft weighing 17,700 kg from the first launch position (take-off distance 105 m) and weighing 22,400 kg from the second launch position (take-off distance 195 m), and also allowed the MiG-29K pilot to make a missed approach even after touching down decks during the run stage (in case of non-engagement with the arresting arrester cable).
The S-29K weapons control system used on the MiG-29K was generally consistent in composition with the SUV of the MiG-29M aircraft. One of the differences between the MiG-29K equipment complex, compared to the avionics of the MiG-29M aircraft, was the inclusion of the SN-K “Uzel” navigation system, which ensured the fighter’s navigation over the sea and its landing on the deck of an aircraft-carrying ship, as well as the exhibition of inertial navigation system on a swinging base (ship's deck). In terms of the nomenclature and number of suspended weapons, the MiG-29K was practically no different from the MiG-29M.
The first prototype of the MiG-29K (aircraft No. 311, 9-31/1) was flown on June 23, 1988 by test pilot T.O. Aubakirov. On November 1, 1989, he was the first to land a car on the deck of the TAVKR "Tbilisi" (before him, V.G. Pugachev landed on the ship on the same day on a Su-27K), and then was the first to take off from the ship. In September 1990, the second copy of the MiG-29K (No. 312) arrived for testing. In August 1991, the stage of State testing of the MiG-29K on the ship began, which, however, could not be completed. The compatibility of the aircraft with the ship was assessed positively, but due to the start of serial production of the Su-27K naval fighters and the refusal to build new aircraft-carrying ships, work on the MiG-29K was suspended in the early 90s. A total of more than 420 flights were performed on two prototypes of the MiG-29K, of which about 100 were on a ship. Currently, MiG-29K No. 312 is in flight condition.
It is planned to be used in the interests of creating a new version of the ship-based fighter based on the MiG-29SMT - MiG-29K (9-17K).
At the end of 2015, the Russian Aircraft Corporation (RSC) MiG completed government order for the supply of 24 MiG-29K/KUB aircraft to the naval aviation of the Navy. In 2016, MiG plans to complete a large contract for the supply of similar aircraft to the Indian Navy. It is expected that promising Indian and Russian aircraft carriers will also be equipped with the MiG-29K/KUB.
Until now, the domestic naval aviation had only one formation of carrier-based aviation - the 279th separate naval fighter aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet. It is armed with carrier-based Su-33 aircraft, as well as Su-25UTG trainers. This particular regiment is the air wing of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov.
From May to August 2015, the flagship of the Russian Navy, the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, underwent repairs at a plant in Roslyakovo, Murmansk region. In October, the ship began scheduled combat training tasks in the Barents Sea.
Heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser of the Russian Navy "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov"
In September-October 2016, the Admiral Kuznetsov will enter the Mediterranean Sea, where it will lead a permanent group of ships of the Russian Navy. The cruiser will carry on board a mixed air group of carrier-based aircraft Su-33, Su-25UTG and MiG-29K. In the months remaining before the start of the voyage, the aircraft crews will hone their skills in taking off and landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier at ground-based test training complexes in Saki and Yeysk.
Shipborne MiG
The single-seat MiG-29K and the double-seat MiG-29KUB are multifunctional fighters of the 4++ generation, designed to solve not only air defense tasks of ship formations, like carrier-based fighters previously developed in Russia, but also to gain air supremacy, destroy surface and ground targets with controlled precision weapons day and night in all weather conditions.
The MiG-29K/KUB ship-based fighters are the basic aircraft of a new unified family, which also includes the MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35/MiG-35D fighters.
The initial customer for the MiG-29K/KUB was the Indian Navy. Based on the results of the competition, they selected Russian “decks” to man the air wing of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, as well as the promising Indian-built aircraft carrier Vikrant.
On January 20, 2004, India signed a $730 million contract for the development and supply of 16 carrier-based fighters (12 MiG-29K and 4 MiG-29KUB). This agreement was successfully implemented in 2011. But even before this, on March 12, 2010, the parties signed a second contract worth $1.2 billion for the supply of another 29 MiG-29K by the end of 2016. The second operator of the aircraft was the Russian Navy: in February 2012, a contract was signed for the supply of 20 MiG-29K and 4 MiG-29KUB naval aviation to the Russian Navy by the end of 2015.
Model of the aircraft carrier Project 23000 "Storm" First public demonstration of the updated for Russian fleet The MiG-29K took place in June 2015 in Kubinka at the Army-2015 forum. At the same forum, a model of the promising Russian aircraft carrier “Storm” was shown.
According to the Nevsky Design Bureau, which developed the project, “the Storm air group will consist of carrier-based MiG-29K fighters, as well as PAK FA T-50 and long-range radar detection aircraft.”
Pilots about MiG‑29K/KUB
The pilots who tested the MiG-29K/KUB highly appreciated its characteristics. They prefer to talk about the MiG-29K/KUB not as a variant of the MiG-29, but as a completely new aircraft.
“A modern multifunctional aircraft with qualitatively new combat capabilities has been created,” says the honored test pilot Russian Federation, Hero of the Russian Federation, General Director of the Flight Research Institute named after. M. M. Gromova Pavel Vlasov. - The payload has increased. The range of weapons has expanded. This, of course, led to an increase in mass.
However, a set of new solutions, such as Kruger flaps, a new flap design, and a modern remote control system, made it possible to neutralize negative factors and significantly improve piloting conditions for the pilot.” According to Vlasov, the aircraft's performance characteristics have improved. The “pilot-plane” interface has been improved, making it more user-friendly. Significantly expanded information support crew. Improving the accuracy of navigation equipment has provided new capabilities, such as approaches to landing using satellite systems. New solutions made work easier at the flight testing stage and ensured their smoothness.
“On landing, the compact MiG-29K with a digital fly-by-wire control system behaves more dynamically than the Su-33 with an analogue one,” says Nikolai Diorditsa, Honored Test Pilot of the Russian Federation, Hero of the Russian Federation, test pilot of RSK MiG. - And on takeoff too, due to better thrust-to-weight ratio. On the MiG-29K/KUB it is easier to maintain the direction of the take-off run; the aircraft leaves the ski-jump with sufficient controllability margins.”
Indian version
Today, the Indian Navy has the largest fleet of ship-borne MiGs. According to general director RSK "MiG" of Sergei Korotkov, in 2016 six MiG-29K carrier-based fighters will be delivered to India. Thus, the 2010 contract will be completed.
By this time, India will have 45 MiG-29K/KUB. They will be consolidated into three squadrons, two of which will be deployed on the aircraft carriers Vikramaditya and Vikrant, and the third will be used for training pilots on land. The first of these units, the 303rd Black Panthers Squadron, was formed in May 2013 at the Indian Naval Air Base Hansa (Goa). The squadron is armed with 12 MiG-29K and 4 MiG-29KUB (all delivered under the first contract of 2004). She is included in the air group of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, part of the Western Fleet of India. This ship, built by Russia on the basis of the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov, has a total displacement of 45.5 thousand tons and is capable of carrying up to 24 MiG-29K class aircraft.
According to the official statement of the Indian Navy, as of March 2015, “the MiG-29K squadron had flown more than 2,500 hours and successfully tested the entire range of aircraft weapons, including air-to-surface and air-to-air guided missiles, bombs, unguided rockets and cannon." Planes took off and landed both at a ground airfield and on an aircraft carrier. The report also states that “the aircraft undergoing testing also participated in important exercises of the Indian Navy and Air Force.”
In the summer of 2015, the formation of the second MiG squadron began on the eastern coast of Hindustan, at the Dega base (Andhra Pradesh state). However, the ship for this squadron is late: according to official reports, the aircraft carrier Vikrant (also known as “Project 71”), being built by India, will enter service no earlier than December 2018. It will have a slightly smaller total displacement than Vikramaditya - 40 thousand tons, but is also designed to accommodate up to 24 MiG-29K class aircraft.
The Indian Navy plans to deploy another MiG-29K squadron at the Kadamba base (Karnataka). Apparently, it will serve to train pilots. At the same time, in June 2015, the MiG-29K simulator supplied by RSK MiG was put into operation at the Institute of Aviation Technology of the Indian Navy in Kochi (Kerala). “The simulator allows for training flight and technical staff, demonstrating the operation of all aircraft systems and associated maintenance,” said Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, head of the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.
To ensure the operation of MiGs, a maintenance center is being created in India. “The premises have been built, we are bringing there the equipment promised under the offset contract, which was concluded at the MAKS 2013 salon. Indian specialists are being trained and will soon service center Direct repairs of blocks and assemblies will begin,” said the head of the MiG corporation, Sergei Korotkov.
In addition, to expand the capabilities of the aircraft, tests are being carried out and new equipment is being created. At the beginning of 2015, as the Indian press reported, at the request of the Indian Navy, landing of the MiG-29K on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov with one of the two engines running was carried out. “The MiG-29K/KUB is a wonderful aircraft, very equipped powerful engines, - The Hindu newspaper quotes an unnamed Indian military man. “To allay the fears of our pilots, we asked RSK MiG to confirm the possibility of landing the MiG-29K on one engine.”
At the MAKS-2015 air show, the PAZ-MK suspended refueling unit for the MiG-29K/KUB, created by order of the Indian Navy, was demonstrated for the first time. Taking into account the restrictions on the take-off weight of the aircraft, dictated by the length of the aircraft carrier’s runway, the PAZ-MK unit will make it possible to refuel the MiG-29K already in the air, thereby expanding its range.
Assuming both carriers are fully loaded, India will need at least 48 carrier-based fighters and at least one squadron for land-based training. “Whether an air group will be formed for the Project 71 aircraft carrier from among the contracted and delivered equipment or whether there will be additional requests - this issue is within the competence of the Indian side,” said Deputy General Director of Rosoboronexport Igor Sevastyanov.
Following Vikrant, India plans to commission new aircraft carrier Vishal with a total displacement of 65 thousand tons and with a nuclear power plant. There is no decision on the air wing for it yet.
Russian carrier-based fighter MiG-29K. As the Russian Ministry of Defense reported, “during training flights, as a result of a technical malfunction during the landing approach several kilometers before the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, an accident occurred with a MiG-29K carrier-based fighter.” The pilot ejected and was taken aboard the Admiral Kuznetsov; his health is not in danger.
In the fall of 2016, the MiG-29K aircraft became part of the strike group of the Northern Fleet, which on October 15 set off on a cruise to the northeastern part of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. It complemented the carrier-based Su-33 fighters available on the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov.
MiG-29K- Russian multi-role carrier-based supersonic fighter of the fourth generation, development of the MiG-29 project.
The first combat aircraft in the USSR, capable of taking off from the deck of a ship and landing on it in the usual way - with a take-off run and a run. Designed to solve problems of air defense of naval formations, gaining air superiority, hitting surface and ground targets at any time of the day, etc.
About the history of creation
Developed in the 1980s. by the team of the Separate Design Bureau of Plant No. 155 (OKB named after A.I. Mikoyan, now JSC Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG) under the leadership of Chief Designer Mikhail Waldenberg, it was subsequently significantly modernized. It is in service with the Naval Aviation of the Russian Navy and Navy India. Did not participate in hostilities.
The first flight of the MiG-29K took place on June 23, 1988, the machine was piloted by a test pilot from the OKB. Mikoyan Toktar Aubakirov. On November 1, 1989, he performed the first landing on the deck of the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser "Tbilisi" (now the flagship of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov") and the first takeoff from a ship's springboard.
In the USSR, the MiG-29K was built in single copies at the Moscow machine-building plant"Banner of Labor" (now - industrial complex number 2 of JSC "RSK "MiG"). In the Russian Federation serial production was deployed in the 2000s. at the Lukhovitsky Machine-Building Plant (production complex number 1 of RSK MiG JSC) in the Moscow region.
About the design features
The plane is made according to normal aerodynamic design with a folding trapezoidal mechanized wing, a two-fin vertical tail, two RD-33K engines (RD33MK "Sea Wasp" in production vehicles) in the rear fuselage.
Crew – 1 person (2 people in the combat training “spark” MiG-29KUB/KUBR).
The carrier-based fighters are distinguished from the original ground-based MiG-29 by improved anti-corrosion protection of the airframe, reinforced landing gear, improved wing mechanization, the presence of an in-flight refueling system, etc. Before the start of mass production, the aircraft was significantly modernized, the front-line MiG-29SMT fighter served as its base.
Deck modifications of the MiG-29 can be based on aircraft-carrying ships with a displacement of 28 thousand tons, equipped with a take-off ramp and a landing arrestor and capable of receiving aircraft weighing more than 20 tons (the Russian Navy has one such ship at its disposal - the Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov). MiG-29K can also be based at ground airfields.
Flight characteristics of the production version of the MiG-29K
Aircraft length – 17.3 m. Height – 4.4 m. Wing span – 11.99 m (full) or 7.80 m (at the aircraft carrier’s parking lot). Service ceiling - 17,500 m. Ferry range - 2 thousand km, with external fuel tanks - 3 thousand km (2700 km with external fuel tanks for the MiG-29KUB). Maximum take-off weight – 24,500 kg. The maximum speed at altitude is 2200 km/h.
Continuation
About weapons and equipment
The MiG-29K is armed with a 30 mm caliber cannon (ammunition capacity of 150 rounds), and on 8 hardpoints it can carry up to 4500 kg of payload - air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. different types, adjustable aerial bombs.
The avionics of the serial version of the fighter include radar station"Zhuk-ME" (provides tracking of up to ten air targets, simultaneous firing of missiles at four of them), an additional navigation system "Uzel", an automatic control and registration complex "Karat". Aircraft are equipped with an on-board video recording system, an autonomous power generation system for ground checks of equipment without starting the main engines, etc.
About the combat training version
To train MiG-29K pilots in the second half of the 1980s. A project was being developed for a two-seater MiG-29KU vehicle with separate cockpits for the instructor and the student pilot, but work was suspended in the early 1990s.
In the 2000s, after concluding a contract for the supply of carrier-based fighters to the Indian Navy, the MiG-29KUB carrier-based combat training fighter with a common two-seat cockpit was created. Its first flight took place on January 20, 2007, the car was piloted by a crew consisting of Mikhail Belyaev and Pavel Vlasov.
Where is the MiG-29K operated?
Since 2009, the aircraft have been supplied to India, which has ordered a total of 45 MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB aircraft for deployment on the aircraft carriers INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant (under two contracts from 2004). for 16 boards, worth $730 million, and from 2010 for 29 boards, worth $1.2 billion).
In 2013-2015 The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) supplied the Russian Ministry of Defense with 20 MiG-29KR and four MiG-20KUBR units under a contract dated February 29, 2012.
Since 2013, several of the delivered vehicles have undergone trial operation in the 279th naval fighter aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy.
March 20, 2016 at the airfield of the 859th Center combat use and retraining of naval aviation flight personnel (Yeysk, Krasnodar region) MiG-29KR/KUBR flights began from the 100th separate naval fighter aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, recreated in January 2016.
Accidents and disasters of the MiG-29K
According to data from open sources, so far there have been three accidents with aircraft of this type, including two plane crashes in which a total of three people died.
- June 23, 2011 in the area of the Kabakovo farmstead, Akhtubinsky district, Astrakhan region. A disaster occurred during a test flight of the MiG-29KUB carrier-based fighter (tail number “927 blue”) at the 929th State Flight Test Center of the Russian Air Force. The car collided with the ground while performing a downward half-loop from an altitude of 2700 m, with the engines running at maximum speed. The crew died - colonels Alexander Kruzhalin and Oleg Spichka, who managed to steer the falling car away from settlement(in 2012, both pilots were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia). Among the probable causes of the disaster is a defect in the wing folding mechanism, due to which it could have folded spontaneously.
- On June 4, 2014, off the coast of the Indian state of Goa, a MiG-29KUB carrier-based fighter of the Indian Navy made a hard landing on the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. The plane, at a speed of about 300 km/h, missed the first two rows of arrestor cables and caught on the third at a time when the pilots were already preparing for a go-around. As a result of the incident, the nose landing gear of the fighter was damaged. The pilots and crew of the ship were not injured.
- December 4, 2014 near the village of Chemodurovo, Voskresensky district, Moscow region. An experienced carrier-based fighter MiG-29KUB (registration number "204 black") crashed while returning to the airfield in Zhukovsky during a training flight. Test pilots Sergei Rybnikov and Vadim Selivanov ejected and were hospitalized in serious condition. On December 6, Sergei Rybnikov died in the hospital. The suspected cause of the crash is equipment failure. The plane belonged to the MiG corporation that developed it.
The material was prepared according to TASS-Dossier data.
Carrier-based fighter-bomber MiG-29K.
Developer: OKB MiG
Country: USSR
First flight: 1988
The second deep modification of the light front-line fighter MiG-29 was the multi-role shipborne aircraft MiG-29K, development work on which was carried out at the Moscow Metallurgical Plant named after. A.I. Mikoyan since the mid-80s in parallel with the design of the MiG-29M. Along with the ship-based modification of the Su-27 (Su-33), the MiG-29K fighter was supposed to be the first domestic combat aircraft capable of taking off from the deck of a ship and landing on it in the usual way, i.e. with run and mileage. Before this, the country’s Navy had neither aircraft of this type nor ships capable of receiving them. At the same time, the navies of the leading naval powers of the world were already in service with more than two dozen aircraft carriers. The United States had 16 ships (including six nuclear), each of which had on board 70-80 aircraft - A-6E and A-7E attack aircraft, F/A-18 fighter-attack aircraft and F-14 fighters, taking off from decks using steam catapults.
In the USSR, the need to equip the Navy with ships with aircraft on board was officially recognized by the country's leadership only in the late 50s, when the US Navy began to receive submarines with ballistic missiles. However, since “landing” jet aircraft on board a ship without having the necessary technical background, in short terms was not possible, the problem began to be solved in the direction of creating anti-submarine cruisers (ASC) with aviation weapons - first with deck helicopters, and then with vertical take-off and landing attack aircraft. In 1967 and 1969, the fleet included the cruisers "Moscow" and "Leningrad" (project 1123) with 14 Ka-25 helicopters on board, and in 1975 and 1978 - the cruisers "Kyiv" and "Minsk" ( project 1143) with 16 Yak-38 aircraft and 16 Ka-25 or Ka-27 helicopters.
In terms of flight performance characteristics, the Yak-38 vertical take-off attack aircraft were far from perfect: their combined power plant, consisting of a lift-and-propulsion turbojet engine with deflectable nozzles and two lifting engines, consumed a fair share of the fuel available on board in vertical take-off and landing modes, as a result, the flight range of the Yak-38, even without a combat load, was only slightly more than 500 km, and with weapons attached, correspondingly even less. The range of the armed attack aircraft was only 90-160 km - according to this indicator, the Yak-38 could not compete even with deck helicopters. In addition, the “Yaks” were practically unable to provide air defense for naval groups in ocean theaters of operations - for this they had neither the necessary weapons nor sighting devices, nor did they possess the altitude-speed characteristics inherent in fighters. Therefore, the question inevitably arose about the development of aircraft-carrying ships with aircraft that take off and land in the traditional way, i.e. with run and mileage.
Therefore, back in 1968, parallel to the design of the Kyiv-type anti-ship missiles, at the Nevsky Design Bureau (NPKB) of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry under the leadership of A.B. Morin, research began on the appearance of a promising aircraft-carrying ship (AK) with ejection take-off of aircraft. As a result of a series of comprehensive research projects, by 1972 the tactical and technical characteristics of such a ship were substantiated and its preliminary design was developed. The aircraft armament of the first Soviet AK, known as “Project 1160,” was to be deck-based MiG-23K fighters (based on the “land” MiG-23ML), Su-25K attack aircraft (based on the Su-25 army attack aircraft being developed) and subsonic anti-submarine jets P-42 aircraft (designed by the Taganrog State Union Experimental Plant for Marine Aircraft Manufacturing - former OKB-49 G.M. Beriev - under the leadership of chief designer A.K. Konstantinov). In the process of this work, for the first time, direct contacts were established between three aviation design bureaus (A.I. Mikoyan, P.O. Sukhoi and G.M. Beriev) with shipbuilding industry enterprises, tactical and technical specifications for the development of aircraft were prepared and agreed upon.
In a report presented to the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Ministry of Defense in the summer of 1973, the ministers of the aviation and shipbuilding industry, the Commanders-in-Chief of the Air Force and the Navy, on the basis of the considered preliminary design, recommended organizing the creation of a nuclear-powered multi-purpose aircraft-carrying ship with a displacement of up to 80,000 tons, which was supposed to have a strike missile weapons and an air group, including Su-27K fighters (deck version promising fighter 4th generation Su-27) and P-42 anti-submarine aircraft. It was assumed that by 1986 the country's Navy would receive three such ships, which would significantly reduce the gap between the USSR and the United States in the production of aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft. This proposal, however, did not find support from the Central Committee, and primarily from its secretary D.F. Ustinov, who was in charge of defense issues. As an alternative, in the fall of 1973, D.F. Ustinov proposed developing a domestic aircraft-carrying fleet based on the Kyiv-type anti-ship missiles. The third ship of this project (1143.3) was planned to be built taking into account the deployment of Yak-38 vertical take-off and landing fighters, and later - supersonic Yak-141, and Ka-27 helicopters.
At the same time, the NPKB continued work on aircraft carrier-type vessels. Based on the Project 1160 AK, in the mid-70s a ship design was prepared, which was called in the documents “a large cruiser with aircraft armament of Project 1153.” It was supposed to have a displacement of about 70,000 tons (the displacement of the Kyiv-type anti-ship missile is about 40,000 tons) and be equipped with a nuclear power plant. On-board catapults and an aerofinisher would allow it to operate MiG-23K fighters and Su-25K attack aircraft. By 1985, the Navy could receive two large cruisers. However, foreign policy considerations and the death of influential supporters of the project (Minister of Defense A.A. Grechko and Minister of Shipbuilding B.E. Butoma) did not allow the implementation of the program for the construction of such ships. Instead, in 1977, they decided to continue the construction of heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers (TAVKR - the new name for anti-ship missiles with aircraft weapons) of Project 1143 of the Kyiv type. The fourth ship (1143.4), which received the name “Baku” when it was laid down in February 1978, was supposed to have improved radio-electronic, anti-ship missile and defensive missile and artillery weapons and continue to accept on deck only vertically taking off aircraft of the Yak-38 type (in the future - Yak-141). On the fifth ship of this project (1143.5) with an increased displacement, along with basing Yak-141 vertical take-off and landing fighters and Ka-27 helicopters of various modifications, it was planned to provide ejection takeoff and aero-finishing landing of Su-27K fighters and Su-25K attack aircraft.
To test the aviation technical means to support the takeoff and landing of carrier-based aircraft (catapult, arresting arrester, emergency barrier, optical and radio-technical landing systems), study the specifics of ship-based aircraft, as well as train future carrier-based aviation pilots in the Crimea near the city of Saki at the Novofedorovka airfield, it was decided was to build a Research and Educational Training Complex (NIUTK), which later received the name "THREAD". It included an accelerating device (a prototype of a catapult) and blocks of cable and chain arresters. Before the start of experiments with aircraft, enterprises of the Ministry of Shipbuilding carried out a large-scale series of tests of equipment using unmanned simulators - loader carts, which were accelerated by the shuttle of the ejection device, and then slowed down by hooking the hook onto the arrester cables or caught by an emergency barrier.
In 1978, MMP named after. A.I. Mikoyan made a proposal to create a carrier-based MiG-29K aircraft based on the 4th generation MiG-29 fighter. At the same time, it was planned that the MiGs would complement the heavier and more expensive Su-27K in the TAVKR air group, just as this should have been done in the fighter aviation formations of the Air Force. What distinguished it from the “land” version of the MiG-29K was the internal fuel reserve increased from 3650 to 4000 kg, the possibility of using underwing outboard fuel tanks with a capacity of 800 liters (with a standard dorsal and two underwing PTBs, the fuel reserve exceeded 6500 kg). The normal take-off weight of the aircraft with four missiles was 15,570 kg (the MiG-29 is 2 tons less according to the project), and the maximum (with four missiles and three anti-tank tanks) was 18,210 kg. In terms of power plant, equipment and weapons, the MiG-29K was almost completely consistent with the MiG-29 (with the exception of an increase in the number of simultaneously suspended K-27 medium-range missiles and the replacement of the standard short-range navigation radio system with a special radio drive system and ensuring landing on the ship). The main armament version of the MiG-29K naval fighter included four K-27 missiles (two with underwing tanks), two K-73 close-range missiles, as well as ammunition for the built-in GSh-301 cannon (150 rounds). The combat radius of the aircraft was supposed to be 850 km without a PTB, 1050 km with a ventral tank, and 1300 km with three PTBs, with a loitering time at a distance of 250 km from the ship of 1.6-2.3 hours.
Proposal from OKB im. A.I. Mikoyan was accepted. Accordingly, the composition of the TAVKR air group of project 1143.5 was clarified: it was planned to include 18 Su-27K fighters and 28 MiG-29K fighters taking off from a catapult, as well as 14 Ka-252 helicopters: eight anti-submarine (after adoption - Ka-27PL), two search and rescue (Ka-27PS) and four radar patrol complexes (Ka-31). The aircraft of the air group were now intended exclusively for anti-aircraft defense of the cruiser and the order it headed, so they were not supposed to have any strike weapons. They refused to base MiG-23K fighters, Su-25K attack aircraft and P-42 anti-submarine aircraft on board the TAVKR. Thus, by the end of the 70s, the composition of the air group of the new TAVKR and its combat missions were defined quite clearly.
However, in 1981, a directive from the General Staff followed, ordering a significant reduction in the displacement of the Project 1143.5 TAVKR being developed, and the abandonment of basing catapult take-off aircraft on it and the catapults themselves. The basis of the ship's air group was again to be the vertically taking off supersonic fighters Yak-141, and to ensure the take-off of such machines with an increased combat load, which could only be carried out with a take-off run, the cruiser was to be equipped with a take-off springboard. Based on the existing groundwork for deck-based modifications of 4th generation fighters, which had a high thrust-to-weight ratio, the leaders of the MMZ named after. A.I. Mikoyan and the Ministry of Health named after. P.O. Sukhoi, with the support of the Air Force command, made a proposal “not to remove” the MiG-29K and Su-27K from the ship, promising to ensure their non-ejection takeoff from the springboard. In the summer of 1981, the proposal of the MAP and the Air Force was accepted to conduct ground tests on the short take-off of the MiG-29 and Su-27 from a springboard, a little later it was possible to achieve agreement to increase the displacement of the TAVKR to 55,000 tons. The cruiser's design was once again adjusted, taking into account its increased size and the presence of a springboard. The main aircraft of the TAVKR air group was still the Yak-141, but now it was also planned to base the MiG-29K and Su-27K fighters for springboard takeoff and arresting landing.
It should be noted that launching from a springboard even has a number of advantages over the traditional ejection takeoff method for Western aircraft carriers. When the catapult mechanism is activated, the piston of the steam cylinder with the shuttle, to which the deck-based aircraft is “hooked” by special units of the front landing gear, begins to move forward along the ship’s course with great acceleration, accelerating the aircraft to a speed of about 300 km/h, after which it leaves the deck, increases the angle of attack (which is accompanied by a “drawdown” of the vehicle along the trajectory - when leaving the deck, the values of the angles of inclination of the trajectory and attack are usually close to zero) and goes into a climb. Due to the fact that the stroke of the catapult piston is limited (usually about 90 m), the required speed can only be achieved with large longitudinal overloads (up to 4.5), which are difficult for pilots to tolerate and often lead to a lack of coordination of their actions and sometimes even short-term loss of consciousness.
When taking off from a ski-jump (it is equipped at the end of the flight deck in the bow of the ship), the aircraft's take-off speed does not exceed 180-200 km/h with a take-off run of 100-180 m, so the pilot experiences slight longitudinal overloads and is in full control of the situation. On the other hand, a launch from a springboard, which occurs at relatively low forward speeds, dictates more stringent requirements for the characteristics of stability and controllability of the aircraft and for its thrust-to-weight ratio. The aircraft's engines are put into takeoff (or emergency) mode before the takeoff run begins. At the same time, in order to keep the aircraft in place until permission to take off is received, special devices are used to prevent the aircraft from starting up prematurely—delays, which are stops for the wheels of the main landing gear that are released from under the deck. To prevent possible damage to the deck elements and superstructures of the ship by hot gases from aircraft engines operating at maximum speeds, the design of the TAVKR includes lifting cooled gas deflector shields.
Development of the ski-jump method of fighter take-off began at the NITKA complex in the summer of 1982. By this time, the complex was equipped with an experimental ski jump T-1, designed at the Nevsky Design Bureau and built at the shipyard in Nikolaev. It had a height of 5 m, a length of 60 m, a width of 30 m and an inclination angle of 8.5°. It was planned to involve appropriately modified prototypes of 4th generation fighters in the tests: the 7th flying copy of the MiG-29 (aircraft No. 918) and the 3rd copy of the Su-27 (T-10-3). In addition, for these purposes, LII allocated the MiG-27 aircraft No. 603 (tail No. 03), and the Ministry of Health named after. P.O. Sukhoi (somewhat later) - experimental T-10-25 (made, unlike the T-10-3, already in the configuration of the serial Su-27).
The conversion of MiG-29 No. 918 for flights at the Nitka complex was carried out in July-August 1982. The aircraft was significantly lightened - all the now “unnecessary” equipment was removed from it (previously the 918 was used to test the on-board radar), and at the same time the chassis structure was strengthened. The flyover of the modified fighter took place on August 11, and already on August 21, 1982, test pilot MMZ named after. A.I. Mikoyan A.G. Fastovets performed the first takeoff from the T-1 springboard on the 918th. The take-off run was 250 m, the exit speed was 240 km/h, and the take-off weight of the vehicle was 12,000 kg. The leading test engineer for MiG-29 No. 918 at NITKA was I.A. Vlasov, and the aircraft technician was V.N. Shmelev. Recalling the first takeoff from a springboard, A.G. Fastovets said that he was very worried: “Usually you take off like: there’s a runway ahead. Cleared. Everything is fine. There is no one. And here in front of you, at a distance of 100 m, is a wall, and you need to climb this wall. The wall - it seems so, in fact it is a springboard. It was really exciting to run up such a hill. When you imagine what it should be, then it’s easier...”
A week later, the MZ pilot named after M.Z. took off from the springboard on the T-10-3. P.O. Sukhoi N.F. Sadovnikov (the take-off weight of the aircraft was 18,200 kg, the take-off length was 230 m, and the take-off speed was 232 km/h). In subsequent flights (a total of 32 of them were carried out under the test program), also carried out by test pilots of the MMZ named after. A.I. Mikoyan A.V. Fedotov and B.A. Orlov, pilot of the Ministry of Health named after. P.O. Sukhoi V.G. Pugachev and LII pilot V.G. Gordienko, the results gradually improved. On the MiG-29 No. 918, it was possible to reduce the take-off run to 150 m, and the exit speed from the springboard to 180 km/h, while the weight of the fighter reached 14,500 kg. On September 8, 1982, the program of the first stage of testing the MiG-29 No. 918 at the NITKA complex was completed, and the prototype, which had made 149 flights by that time (including 20 after conversion), was sent to the plant for further improvements.
The results of the first flights at the NITKA complex forced us to significantly adjust the profile of the take-off ramp. While the new ski jump was being built, in Crimea, in order not to waste time, they began practicing landing on an arresting device, which was a set of four rising and tensioning cables, one of which the landing plane had to be hooked onto with a release hook. The NITKA included the BS-P-1 landing block with a mock-up of the Svetlana-2 shipborne aerofinisher. The first test landings on a ground-based aerofinisher were performed on the experimental MiG-27 No. 603, retrofitted with a hook, by LII pilots A.V. Krutov and S.N. Tresvyatsky. In May-July 1983, MiG-29 No. 918 was also equipped with a hook. The vehicle was flown over on July 29, and on August 21, 1983 it was transferred to NITKA. The work of the 918th on the aerofinisher continued until October 31, 1983, the pilots of the MMZ named after. A.I. Mikoyan performed on it a large number of “assaults” on arresting arrester cables and more than a dozen test landings. In 1983, similar studies were carried out by N.F. Sadovnikov on the T-10-3, and in 1984 by V.G. Pugachev on the T-10-25. The flight length of aircraft using an aero arresting device was reduced to 90 m.
In 1984, the production of a new T-2 springboard was completed (height 5.6 m, length 53.5 m, width 17.5 m, descent angle 14.3°), which exactly repeated the shape of the bow part of the deck of the TAVKR project 1143.5 under construction. The first takeoff from the T-2 was performed on September 25, 1984 on the T-10-25 by N.F. Sadovnikov. On October 1, V.E. Menitsky began flying from the T-2 ski jump on MiG-29 No. 918 (tests continued until October 25, 1984). At the Nitka complex, they not only practiced taking off from a ski-jump and landing on an aerofinisher, but also tested the landing approach equipment intended for the ship: the Luna-3 optical landing system, warning the pilot with lights of different colors about deviations from the calculated glide path, driving radar complex and a radio engineering system for short-range navigation and landing. The first landings of MiG-29 No. 918 using the Luna-3 system were carried out in May 1984. In 1987, NITKA carried out the first automatic and night landings of aircraft using an arresting aid. In addition to the pilots of the OKB A.I. Mikoyan, P.O. Sukhoi and LII, military pilots from the Air Force Research Institute were also involved in the tests (for example, V.N. Kondaurov performed 200 flights at the NITKA complex in 1988, of which 65 were with landing on an aerofinisher).
Intensive flights at NITKA continued until December 1991, after which the operation of the unique complex, which ended up on the territory of “non-floating” Ukraine, was actually stopped. In August 1992, MiG-29 No. 918, which completed more than 300 flights under various test programs, was demonstrated under the name MiG-29KVP (i.e. “short take-off and landing”) in the static exhibition “Mosaeroshow-92” in Zhukovsky, and then was transferred to the Moscow Energy Institute, where it is used as a teaching aid.
Flight research carried out in 1982-1984 at the NITKA complex confirmed the fundamental possibility of creating serial ship-based fighters with ski-jump take-off and aero-finishing landing, and in 1984 a corresponding decree of the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, which set the development of such aircraft at the MZ. P.O. Sukhoi and MMP named after. A.I. Mikoyan. The first was entrusted with the creation of the heavy shipborne air defense fighter Su-27K, the second - the lighter multi-role shipborne fighter MiG-29K, which could also be used to strike surface and coastal targets. It is easy to notice that, despite a number of significant differences (including in the method of take-off from the deck), the air group of the domestic aircraft-carrying cruiser was planned to be built on a principle close to that adopted in the US Navy, where long-range heavy aircraft became the main types of carrier-based aircraft in the 80s. F-14 air defense interceptor fighters and lighter F/A-18 fighter-attack aircraft. The creation of shipborne fighters was supposed to be carried out in parallel with the construction of the new TAVKR project 1143.5, in close cooperation of specialists from two departments - the Ministry of Aviation Industry and the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry. The laying of the ship, which initially received the name "Riga" (in November 1982 it was replaced by "Leonid Brezhnev"), was carried out at the Black Sea Shipyard (ChSZ) in Nikolaev in September 1982. In December 1985, it was launched, and a year and a half later, the TAVKR was renamed again - now “Tbilisi”. The place of the ship "Leonid Brezhnev" in the ChSZ dry dock at the end of 1985 was taken by a second ship of a similar type - initially, again, "Riga" (since 1990 - "Varyag"), which was to be followed by an aircraft-carrying cruiser with a nuclear power plant - "Ulyanovsk" "(project 1143.7).
The design of the MiG-29K (product “9-31”) began at MMZ named after. A.I. Mikoyan under the leadership General designer R.A.Belyakova in 1984. M.R. Waldenberg was appointed chief designer of the aircraft. In contrast to the preliminary studies of the ship version of the MiG-29, completed in 1978 (see above), it was now planned to build the MiG-29K based not on the basic MiG-29, but on the modernized MiG-29M. The unification concerned primarily the new weapons control system, as well as a number of design and technological improvements that were planned to be introduced at the emka. OKB im. P.O. Sukhoi took a different path: for the air defense tasks of the naval group, which they intended to assign to the Su-27K, it was also quite suitable existing system armament of the serial front-line fighter Su-27. To “water down” the Su-27, only modifications were required to ensure the aircraft could be based on a ship - the introduction of a folding wing, strengthening the landing gear, installing a landing hook, etc. Looking ahead, it should be said that thanks to this approach, Sukhov was able to quickly test the Su-27K and put it into service. The Mikoyanovites had to do a lot of work to fine-tune the new weapons control system, which is why the MiG-29K was “delayed” until the early 90s, when the country’s economy was hit by a crisis, and it was never put into mass production.
The MiG-29K was supposed to provide air defense of an aircraft carrier formation in all weather conditions in the altitude range from 30 m to 27 km, suppression aviation assets enemy (anti-submarine defense aircraft and helicopters), transport-landing helicopters, radar patrol aircraft, defeating ship groups, covering landings, escorting shore-based aviation and conducting aerial reconnaissance.
Due to the specific conditions of deployment on the ship, the MiG-29K had a number of design features. When developing deck modification units, much attention was paid to protecting the aircraft from corrosion, taking into account the “marine” requirements for coatings, materials and sealing of individual elements. Due to the increased loads during landing, the central tank, the power compartment of the hull located behind it, to which the main landing gear and brake hook were attached, as well as the bow of the hull in the area of the front landing gear, were significantly strengthened. In the tail section, instead of a parachute braking unit, a hook damping mechanism and a rescueable emergency recorder were placed. As on the MiG-29M, a brake flap with an area of about 1 m was installed on the upper surface of the MiG-29K hull. The area of the stabilizer increased, and it received a characteristic “tooth” along the leading edge. The wing span and area increased to 11.99 m and 43 m2 - accordingly, its mechanization changed - double-slit flaps with an increased chord and ailerons that hovered during landing appeared on the ship-based fighter. The wing profile of the basic P-177 model gave way to the improved P-177M. To reduce the parking overall dimensions of the aircraft when placed on the deck of a ship and in below-deck hangars, the wing consoles of the MiG-29K were made folding and controlled from the cockpit via a hydraulic drive. In the folded position, the wing span was reduced to 7.8 m (the overall width of the aircraft with missiles suspended under the wing is 8.3 m). Initially, it was planned to make the radar radome deflectable (with the radome folded, the overall length of the aircraft was supposed to be reduced from 17.27 to 15.1 m), but this idea was later abandoned.
The landing gear struts had a greater length, increased shock absorber travel, and were equipped with units for mooring and towing by ship. To be placed in the retracted position in the previous volumes of the body, the racks of the main supports were equipped with pull-up mechanisms.
The controlled strut of the front landing gear began to rotate at an angle of up to 90°. A three-color indicator was installed on its struts, the lights of which informed the landing director about the position of the aircraft on the glide path and its landing speed. All pneumatics were replaced with new ones of higher pressure (20 kgf/cm2 (1.96 MPa)). The brake hook was located under the tail of the hull between the engine nacelles and was equipped with a release, pull-up and damping system. To provide visual control of landing on the deck at night, there was a hook illumination system.
Like the MiG-29M, the ship's vehicle was equipped with an analog-digital fly-by-wire control system with three- and four-fold redundancy on all three channels, with mechanical duplication in the roll and direction channels. Like the Emka, the MiG-29K no longer had upper air intakes, and its fuel system was redesigned accordingly (the internal fuel supply was 5670 liters). The aircraft was equipped with a centralized fuel refueling system for both internal tanks and three outboard tanks. In the event of an emergency landing, to reduce the weight of the vehicle to the maximum permissible (15,300 kg), provisions were made for emergency fuel drainage. To increase the flight range, the MiG-29K was equipped with an in-flight refueling system from a tanker aircraft (for example, Il-78), equipped with a unified suspended UPAZ refueling unit. The retractable refueling rod was located ahead of the cockpit on the left. At night, the rod was illuminated with a special headlight.
The MiG-29K power plant consisted of two RD-33K bypass turbojet engines, which had an integrated digital control system, which also generated control commands for the air intake flaps, and a new remote unit box. Engine thrust at maximum mode was increased to 5500 kgf (53.9 kN), at full afterburner - to 8800 kgf (86.3 kN). Unlike the turbofan engines with the same name RD-33K, used on the MiG-29M, the engines of the ship-based fighter were provided with an emergency operating mode (ER), in which the thrust briefly increased to 9400 kgf (92.2 kN). The CR guaranteed takeoff from a ship of an aircraft weighing 17,700 kg from the first launch position (take-off distance 105 m) and weighing 22,400 kg from the second launch position (take-off distance 195 m), and also allowed the MiG-29K pilot to make a missed approach even after touching down decks during the run stage (in case of non-engagement with the arresting arrester cable). The duplicated digital automatic control system (ACS) ensured the optimal operating condition of the engines in the entire range of flight modes and during missile launches. The controlled lower edge of the air intake, when deflected downward by 20 degrees, reduced thrust losses during takeoff.
The S-29K weapons control system used on the MiG-29K was generally consistent in composition with the SUV of the MiG-29M aircraft. It included the RLPK-29UM radar sighting system with NOYU radar with improved performance over the water surface and the OEPrNK-29M optical-electronic sighting and navigation system with an OLS-M optical-location station and a helmet-mounted target designation system. The pilot's cockpit housed a single multifunctional control panel, which made it possible to expand the range of air-to-surface missiles used. The SOI-29K information display system was three-screen and included a head-up display (KAI) and two multifunctional indicators on cathode ray tubes. Multifunctional system weapons control provided all-weather search, all-angle detection, identification and measurement of the coordinates of single and group air targets in free space and against the background of the underlying surface when exposed to organized interference. The integrated use of sighting systems made it possible to covertly launch an attack and use several types of weapons simultaneously. The weapons control system automatically detected and tracked up to ten targets, ensuring the launch of guided missiles at four targets.
One of the differences between the MiG-29K equipment complex compared to the avionics of the MiG-29M aircraft was the inclusion of the SN-K “Uzel” navigation system, which ensured aircraft navigation over the sea and its landing on the deck of an aircraft-carrying ship. The Uzel navigation system consisted of a new generation inertial navigation system (INS-84), a satellite navigation system, a short-range navigation and landing radio system, an air signals system and a digital computer. The onboard navigation system equipment had to interact with the ship's beacons. It had a noise-proof coded information transmission line and automated built-in control. Like the MiG-29M, it was planned to install an onboard defense system as part of the station on the ship-based fighter electronic intelligence, heat direction finder "Mak-F", jamming station "Gardenia" and two shooting units passive interference BVP-60-26.
The MiG-29K's armament included eight variants of missile weapons for air combat and 25 variants of weapons for operations against ground and surface targets. The maximum combat load weight, as on the MiG-29M, was increased to 4500 kg. To accommodate it, there were nine suspension points: one between the air ducts of the engines and eight under the wing (including four under the folding parts of the consoles). Air-to-air guided missile weapons included two to four R-27R (RE) and T (TE) missiles, up to eight R-73 or RVV-AE missiles. The use of general purpose air-to-surface missiles Kh-25ML and Kh-29L (T), four anti-ship missiles Kh-31A and Kh-35 with active radar seekers, Kh-31P and Kh-25MP anti-radar missiles, KAB-500Kr guided bombs with a television-correlation guidance system. Unguided weapons were represented by aerial bombs, KMG-U small-sized cargo containers and unguided missiles. Like the ground version, the MiG-29K had a built-in GSh-301 30 mm cannon with 100 rounds of ammunition.
For four years, intense work went on to design a new aircraft. The construction of two prototypes was carried out jointly by the experimental production of the Design Bureau and the serial plant “Znamya Truda” (MAPO named after P.V. Dementiev). On April 19, 1988, the first aircraft to receive tail number 311 (i.e., the “9-31/1” aircraft) was transferred to the airfield, and after a ground check of all systems and equipment, on June 23, 1988, test pilot MMZ named after. A.I. Mikoyan T.O. Aubakirov lifted her into the air. The leading test engineer for the 311th was S.P. Belyasnik, and the aircraft technician was Yu.V. Tyukov. The first experimental MiG-29K was not yet equipped with a new weapons control system. After 33 flights, which assessed the stability and controllability of the new aircraft, on August 7, 1989, MiG-29 No. 311 was transported to Saki. Test flights of the MiG-29K at NITKA in September-October 1989 confirmed the compliance of the takeoff, landing and flight characteristics of the machine with the calculated ones and made it possible to begin studying the suitability of the MiG-29K for deployment on board the TAVKR. The first stage of testing for compatibility between the MiG-29K and the ship was carried out on the Nitka complex, equipped with an analogue of the ship's arresting arrester S-2, a T-2 springboard and optical system landing (OSP) "Luna-3".
During tests at NITKA, the dynamic characteristics of the aircraft were studied during take-off and departure from the springboard, in transient conditions, and the stability of operation was studied power plant in emergency mode. Special attention paid attention to the accuracy and safety of landing on the aerofinisher, which was carried out without maintaining a glide path with an inclination angle of 3.5-4°. The light diagram developed at the Design Bureau for the Luna OSP ensured that the aircraft was brought to the calculated touching point (a circle with a diameter of 12 m) with a spread of vertical velocities within 0.5 m/s. “Flights” on the TsAGI flight stand, created by K.V. Zakharov and O.I. Tkachenko, played a big role. The primary skills acquired on this simulator allowed ANPK MiG test pilots T.O. Aubakirov, V.E. Menitsky, A.N. Kvochur, R.P. Taskaev and P.N. Vlasov to prepare to perform the most difficult stage of flight on the MiG-29K - landing on the deck.
On October 21, 1989, the TAVKR "Tbilisi" sailed from the outfitting wall of the ChSZ and went to sea. A very important moment was coming up: test pilots from the Design Bureau of P.O. Sukhoi and A.I. Mikoyan were preparing to land airplanes on the deck of a ship for the first time in the USSR. And now, 10 days later, on November 1, 1989, first V.G. Pugachev on the Su-27K (T-10K-2), and then T.O. Aubakirov on the MiG-29K No. 311 for the first time in history domestic aviation and the Navy “landed” their vehicles on board an aircraft-carrying cruiser. On the same day in the evening, Aubakirov on a MiG-29K made the first takeoff from the Tbilisi springboard (Pugachev on a Su-27K left the ship the next day), after which another one landed on the deck of the TAVKR aircraft— training Su-25UTG, piloted by I.V. Votintsev and A.V. Krutov. Flight design tests (FDT) of aircraft at Tbilisi continued on November 10 and were successfully completed on November 22, 1989, after which the ship returned to the plant for completion and retrofitting necessary equipment, and MiG-29K No. 311 was sent to the plant for modifications (by January 1990, 111 flights had already been carried out on it). During the flight test on November 17, 1989, military test pilots from the State Air Force Research Institute took off (and then landed) for the first time from the deck of the TAVKR - V.N. Kondaurov on the MiG-29K and Yu.A. Semkin on the Su-27K. In total, during the flight design tests, 227 flights and 35 landings on the ship were made, of which 13 landings were on the MiG-29K: 10 were performed by T.O. Aubakirov, two by V.N. Kondaurov and one by A.N. Kvochur.
Factory sea trials (FSC) of the TAVKR in the Black Sea began on May 24, 1990 and continued until September of the same year, after which the new aircraft-carrying cruiser was officially included in the Navy on December 25, 1990 and received the new name “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov” . A year later, in December 1991, he moved to his base in Severomorsk. Test flights of MiG-29K No. 311 at ground complex"THREAD" and the ship were resumed on May 23, 1990 and continued until October 3, 1990. On the fighter, the deck landing system was tested and the electromagnetic compatibility of the radio-electronic systems of the aircraft and ship was assessed. In the same year, OKB test pilot A.N. Kvochur made the first night landing and the first night takeoff from a ship on a MiG-29K, as well as a daytime takeoff with four missiles. During the testing process, a crack was discovered in the aircraft landing gear; it was necessary to somehow “remove” the prototype from the ship. We decided to take off from the deck in a lightweight version (with an incomplete fuel supply). The night take-off in a damaged aircraft was brilliantly performed by test pilot A.N. Kvochur. After the rack was repaired, testing of the MiG-29K continued.
In August 1991, flights began under the State Test program. Another ANPK MiG test pilot, R.P. Taskaev, took part in them. In a short time, thanks to intensive training, he mastered landing on the deck and taking off from it of an aircraft in the entire range of takeoff and landing weights. So, several times he took off on the MiG-29K No. 311 with stirrup external fuel tanks and four air-to-air missiles, the take-off weight of the aircraft reaching 22 tons. At the final stage of testing, a second experimental machine (onboard) was also involved in flights from the ship No. 312), which, unlike the first, had a new “marine” coloring and was equipped with a standard set of weapons control systems. The aircraft was supposed to be used mainly for testing the new SUV. The 312th entered testing in September 1990. By March 1991, it had completed 29 flights, in which stability and controllability, acceleration characteristics and fuel consumption were assessed. Until August 5, 1991, the aircraft was undergoing modifications at the factory, after which it was transferred to a ship.
In total, during the testing process, the first copy of the MiG-29K made 313 flights, including 13 under the State Test program. Using this machine, pilots from the Design Bureau and the State Research Institute of the Air Force performed 74 landings on the deck of a ship, as well as flights with refueling of the aircraft in the air. However, State tests of the MiG-29K were never completed. In the last (thirteenth) flight after landing on the deck, military test pilot V.N. Kondaurov literally “decomposed” the plane. After flying for 1.5 hours, the pilot safely boarded the ship and, with the engines running, relaxed and set the landing gear crane to retract. Having come to his senses, he returned the valve to the “release” position, but due to a sharp shift of the landing gear valve, a backflow of working fluid occurred in the hydraulic system and the hydraulic cylinders and tubes of the landing gear release-retraction system failed. The plane needed serious repairs. While it was being produced, in December 1991 the ship had already left for its permanent base in the Northern Fleet, and state tests of the MiG-29K had to be interrupted. The second prototype made only six flights. After restoration, seven more flights were performed on the first aircraft. The last, 320th flight of the MiG-29K No. 311 took place on August 27, 1992.
Competitors from ANPK Sukhoi Design Bureau managed to begin State testing of the Su-27K earlier, which was put into serial production in 1990. By the time they began in March 1991, seven production Su-27Ks had already been built, and the second prototype T-10K-2 was also in flight condition. ANPK MiG by this time had only two experimental MiG-29Ks (the readiness of the third flying machine, built at MAPO, was 60% by 1992). In 1991, it was decided to stop purchasing the MiG-29 for the Russian Air Force and concentrate the available meager funds to continue production of the Su-27. In this regard, the future of new modifications of the “twenty-ninth”, including the MiG-29K, became very vague. The Mikoyanites’ bet on the use of a promising weapons system on a ship-based fighter led to the fact that, in the context of a reduction and then a complete suspension of funding for the MiG-29K program, it was not quickly possible to develop it as an aviation combat complex. In addition, the collapse of the USSR and the military budget deficit led to the actual freezing of the program for the construction of new aircraft-carrying ships. At the beginning of 1992, at ChSZ, which became the property of independent Ukraine, the construction of the Varyag TAVKR was mothballed in a state of 70 percent readiness, and in February of the same year, the cutting into metal of hull sections of the nuclear-powered aircraft-carrying cruiser Ulyanovsk, laid down in November 1988, began. the degree of its readiness was estimated at 20%). Therefore, it became an unaffordable luxury to develop another type of naval fighter: for the air group of the only Kuznetsov TAVKR, the Su-27K, already in serial production, was sufficient.
However, it should be noted that the MiG-29K, although performing in a different configuration from the Su-27K " weight category" has a number of advantages over it. The Su-27K's range of weapons is limited only to air-to-air missiles, and its on-board equipment meets the requirements for avionics of 4th generation combat aircraft. The undoubted advantages of the Su-27K include a long flight range without drop tanks, high maneuverability and thrust-to-weight ratio, and the ability to carry 12 medium- and short-range missiles simultaneously. The MiG-29K has a weapons control system with higher tactical characteristics, worthy of generation 4+ aircraft, and a significantly wider range of guided and unguided weapons, primarily of the air-to-surface class.
Therefore, it is still too early to “give up” on the MiG-29K aircraft. This is evidenced by the resumption of flight tests of the MiG-29K in August 1996, after a four-year break. According to the chief designer of ANPK "MiG" A.A. Belosvet, over the past period it was possible to bring new complex equipment, and now the OKB has definite plans for the MiG-29K. However, we are no longer talking about launching the MiG-29K into mass production. More real in modern conditions The company considers using technical solutions developed on the MiG-29K on the carrier-based version of the modernized MiG-29SMT fighter. Such solutions include a reinforced folding wing, a more energy-intensive chassis, a new set of equipment, etc. The new ship-based aircraft, known in the press as the “9-17K” product, can be offered not only to the Russian Navy, but also to foreign customers: in the press, for example, for several years now the possibility of selling the Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov TAVKR to India has been discussed. which currently does not have “aircraft” weapons (operation of the Yak-38 VTOL aircraft on ships was discontinued in 1991), however, after possible modernization and necessary modifications (organization of a take-off springboard, arresting arrester, etc.) fundamentally capable of taking on board shortened aircraft take-off and landing weighing up to 20 tons. The design bureau is ready to retrofit the machine to provide ejection take-off.
MiG-29K aircraft have repeatedly participated in various aviation exhibitions. In February 1992, the second copy of the fighter (No. 312) was demonstrated to the heads and representatives of the defense departments of the CIS countries at the Machulishchi airfield in Belarus, in 1992, 1993 and 1995 - in a static exposition of the air show in Zhukovsky near Moscow. The aircraft did not fly for four years: the last before mothballing, the 106th flight of the MiG-29K No. 312 took place on August 28, 1992. However, in the summer of 1996, the 312th was again prepared for test flights and in September of the same year arrived in Gelendzhik, where the first international hydroaviation exhibition in Russia was held. After this, the aircraft was transported to the airfield of the State Flight Test Center in Akhtubinsk to participate in the final stage of State testing of the MiG-29M. To date, it has completed 109 flights. MiG-29K No. 311 was shown in August 1997 at the MAKS-97 air show. Now he is at the ANPK MiG flight base in Zhukovsky.
To train MiG-29K pilots, ANPK MiG in the second half of the 80s worked on a project for a two-seat deck-based combat training vehicle, called the MiG-29KU (ed. “9-62”). It is known that training carrier-based aviation flight personnel, and especially combat aircraft pilots, is extremely difficult. Errors during takeoff and landing on deck rarely go unpunished. Studying the possibilities of using land combat training aircraft The MiG-29UB for training naval pilots showed that the view from the rear cockpit (instructor) is clearly insufficient to ensure a safe landing on the deck. Therefore, the cabins of the instructor and the trainee on the MiG-29KU were made separate, similar to the cabins of the MiG-25RU/PU aircraft. The seat in the rear cabin was installed with a large excess relative to the front one, due to which almost the same visibility was provided during landing from both cabins. The new arrangement of the cockpits led to changes in the design and contours of the nose of the aircraft. The MiG-29KU, like the MiG-29K, was supposed to be equipped with two RD-33K engines. In terms of the design of the main components, the naval training vehicle was similar to a single-seat carrier-based fighter. Thus, the plane did not have upper entrances, the wing was folding, and a landing hook was attached to the rear of the hull.
Due to the suspension of work on the MiG-29K shipborne fighter detailed design its training version was not carried out. Only a purge model of the MiG-29KU and a full-size model of the head part of its hull were built, which was subsequently sent to the Air Force Academy. Yu.A. Gagarin (in Monino).
Modification: MiG-29K
Wingspan, m
-at the aircraft carrier parking lot: 7.80
-full: 11.99
Length, m: 17.37
Height, m: 5.18
Wing area, m2: 42.00
Weight, kg
- empty plane: 12700
-normal takeoff: 17770
-maximum take-off: 22400
Fuel, kg
-internal: 5670
-maximum with PTB: 9470
Engine type: 2 x TRDDF RD-33I
Thrust, kgf: 2 x 9400
Maximum speed, km/h
-at the height: 2300 (M=2.17)
-near the ground: 1400
Practical range, km
-at low altitude: 750
-at high altitude: 1650
-at high altitude with PTB: 3000
-with one refueling: 5700
Max. rate of climb, m/min: 18000
Practical ceiling, m: 17000
Run length, m: 110-195
Run length, m: 150-300
Operating overload: 8.5
Crew, persons: 1
Armament: 30-mm GSh-301 cannon (ammunition 150 rounds); combat load - 4500 kg on 9 hardpoints: medium-range air-to-air missiles R-27 and RVV-AE, short-range missiles R-73, anti-ship Kh-31A, anti-radar Kh-31P, air-to-surface missiles Kh-25ML , Kh-29T, Kh-29L, NUR, KAB with laser and television guidance, free-falling bombs and aircraft mines.
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