Procurement: MiG-35 Enters Its First Race

Archives

January12, 2007: India is willing to pay $4 billion for 126 "light fighters." That means something like the F-16. This is a set up for an intense competition. The U.S. will offer 17 ton F-16s, France has the 24 ton Rafale, Sweden the 14 ton Gripen and Russia, which supplies most of India's current warplanes, offers the 24 ton MiG-35. This is an upgraded version of the MiG-29, with thrust vectoring for higher maneuverability, and better electronics. Making things even more interesting is the fact that Pakistan, India's most likely opponent in a future war, already operates the F-16. The Indians are willing to pay about $30 million per aircraft, which favors the MiG-35, as the Russians are good at competing on price. But the French and Swedes need a major export sale badly, and may be willing to sell at a loss to get it.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close