RSK MiG is forecasting that it can win sales of MiG-29/35 series fighters worth $10-12 billion and MiG-29 upgrade work worth $7-8 billion by 2020.
The manufacturer hopes to sell between 250 and 350 new MiG-29SMT/K/KUB/M1/M2 and MiG-35 multirole fighters to domestic and international customers.
The Russian manufacturer recently signed agreements with Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Belarus and Uzbekistan for maintenance and upgrade work on a total of 600 MiG-29s. The contracts include "on-condition", "service-on-call" and "guaranteed level of combat readiness" packages.
Vladimir Vypryazhkin, head of RSK MiG sales, says the company's new maintenance approach has enabled it to cut support costs by 40%.
The company expects the five CIS republics to sign for upgrades to their MiG-29s, to the MiG-29SMT standard. This SMT provides extended lifetime and maintenance intervals, as well as a multirole capability.
The manufacturer has upgraded Slovakian air force MiG-29s NATO standards with BAE Systems and Rockwell Collins avionics and Vladimir Barkovsky, head of RSK MiG's Artyem Mikoyan Engineering Center, says Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary are close to signing for similar upgrades.
Vypryazhkin says RSK MiG has also won its first order for MiG-29M1/M2 multirole fighters, from an undisclosed customer.
Barkovsky says that development of the MiG-35 remains the main priority for the company in the near term. "This does not mean that the MiG-29 will go out of the market. We will still be offering MiG-29 variants worldwide along with the MiG-35, so as to best meet specific demands of particular customers, taking account of their financial capability," he says.
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Source: Flight International
