The Russian Navy Report

The Future of Carrier Aviation

RIA Novosti

The Russian Navy this week made it official, it will be transitioning to the MiG-29K as its carrier based aircraft. On the 29th of February it was confirmed by defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov and MiG general director Sergei Korotkov that a contract for 24 aircraft had been finalized. 20 of the MiG's will be single-seat MiG-29k's, and the remaining 4 will be dual cockpit MiG-29UB's. These new aircraft will be delivered to the Russian Navy in several years, and will replace the Su-33's.

Su-33

The MiG-29K is a variant of the MiG-29, which is a land based multi-role fighter. The MiG-29 started its service with the Soviet Air Force in the early 1980's, and has undergone upgrades through out the years in order to maintain its role as a front line fighter.

The MiG-29K lost the competition to the Su-33 to become the carrier based aircraft of the Soviet Navy. Because of this many analysts were confused that the Russian Navy returned to the MiG as an option. However I don't see why there is any confusion. The Indian Navy is already successfully operating the MiG-29K, in which MiG has updates on-board sensors and avionics. Instead of trying to develop a new platform for naval aviation, the Russian Navy went with what was already working. The Russian Navy is committed to carrier-based aviation. The Admiral Kuznetsov will enter a refit and overhaul period later this year, and the plans for a new aircraft carrier should also be revealed later this year.

It will be interesting to see the future of Russian carrier based aviation. Only time will tell if the Sukhoi T-50 will be developed into a carrier based aircraft. Some think that is already in the works.