*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - October 5, 2009: Russia's state arms export firm voiced optimism on Friday about winning a multibillion-dollar Brazilian fighter jet tender despite rival bids from French, U.S. and Swedish aerospace companies. 
The MiG-35 is fitted with western standard Mil-1553 bus and advanced Russian made weaponry. Reliability and serviceability have been improved, reducing operating cost and improving serviceability by 2.5 times (compared to older MiG-29s). MiG-35 is equipped with an optronic target tracker, identical to the system used on the Su-30MKI. For precision air-to-ground attack missions, the aircraft can be equipped with a conformal electro-optical targeting module, installed under the right air intake. The aircraft is equipped with radar warning, electro-optical missile launch warning and laser warning sensors, and integral active self protection (jamming, chaff and flare) as part of the integral self-defense system. The aircraft has four additional hardpoints and can haul an external payload in excess of six tons.
Most of the systems introduced in the MiG-35 can be applied to older MiG-29s through upgrading programs.
The aircraft is powered by two RD-33 MK engines digitally controlled smokeless engines, producing 9000kgf of thrust each. This type is an improved and uprated version of the standard RD33 engine. The engine was developed to power the carrier based MiG-29K and modernized version MiG-29M/M2. The prototype demonstrated in Bangalore did not have thrust vector exhausts, but, according to the manufacturer, these can be installed in production aircraft.
The strength of the Russian offer is that it would allow Su-35 fighter jets to be built in Brazil, fulfilling a key Brazilian demand, said Anatoly Isaikin, head of Rosoboronexport, which holds a monopoly on Russian arms exports.
"Our offer has a broad program of technology transfer - a full cycle of work on technical service, repairs, all the way to organizing the manufacture of Su-35s in Brazil," Isaikin told the Interfax news agency.
The offer submitted by Rosoboronexport to Brazil's defense ministry earlier this year "has maximum compliance with the Brazilian demands," he said.
A spokesman for Rosoboronexport, Vyacheslav Davydenko, confirmed that the Russian offer would allow Su-35 fighters, developed by Russian aircraft maker Sukhoi, to be built in Brazil.
"We think our plane has many advantages and we have good chances of winning the competition," Davydenko told AFP.
Brazil is seeking to acquire 36 combat aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of 12 French-made Mirage-2000 jets.
The contract is worth an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion, making it one of the biggest defense tenders in the world.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants his country to become one of the 21st century's major powers, has insisted that the winner agree to transfer technological know-how so Brazil can acquire the specialized knowledge to build its own independent defense industry.
France's Dassault, which has put forward its Rafale fighters, has been seen as the frontrunner due to its offer of technology transfer and longstanding military links between France and Brazil.
But it faces competition from U.S. aviation giant Boeing, which has offered Brazil its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter, and Sweden's Saab, which has been talking up its Gripen NG aircraft.
Meanwhile, Russia has been eager to find new export markets for its weapons and military equipment, one of the few areas where Russian manufacturing has enjoyed strong sales abroad in recent years.
Russia has signed billions of dollars' worth of arms contracts with Brazil's neighbor Venezuela, including for the delivery of Sukhoi fighter jets to Caracas.
The MiG-35 is fitted with western standard Mil-1553 bus and advanced Russian made weaponry. Reliability and serviceability have been improved, reducing operating cost and improving serviceability by 2.5 times (compared to older MiG-29s). MiG-35 is equipped with an optronic target tracker, identical to the system used on the Su-30MKI. For precision air-to-ground attack missions, the aircraft can be equipped with a conformal electro-optical targeting module, installed under the right air intake. The aircraft is equipped with radar warning, electro-optical missile launch warning and laser warning sensors, and integral active self protection (jamming, chaff and flare) as part of the integral self-defense system. The aircraft has four additional hardpoints and can haul an external payload in excess of six tons.
Most of the systems introduced in the MiG-35 can be applied to older MiG-29s through upgrading programs.
The aircraft is powered by two RD-33 MK engines digitally controlled smokeless engines, producing 9000kgf of thrust each. This type is an improved and uprated version of the standard RD33 engine. The engine was developed to power the carrier based MiG-29K and modernized version MiG-29M/M2. The prototype demonstrated in Bangalore did not have thrust vector exhausts, but, according to the manufacturer, these can be installed in production aircraft.
The strength of the Russian offer is that it would allow Su-35 fighter jets to be built in Brazil, fulfilling a key Brazilian demand, said Anatoly Isaikin, head of Rosoboronexport, which holds a monopoly on Russian arms exports.
"Our offer has a broad program of technology transfer - a full cycle of work on technical service, repairs, all the way to organizing the manufacture of Su-35s in Brazil," Isaikin told the Interfax news agency.
The offer submitted by Rosoboronexport to Brazil's defense ministry earlier this year "has maximum compliance with the Brazilian demands," he said.
A spokesman for Rosoboronexport, Vyacheslav Davydenko, confirmed that the Russian offer would allow Su-35 fighters, developed by Russian aircraft maker Sukhoi, to be built in Brazil.
"We think our plane has many advantages and we have good chances of winning the competition," Davydenko told AFP.
Brazil is seeking to acquire 36 combat aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of 12 French-made Mirage-2000 jets.
The contract is worth an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion, making it one of the biggest defense tenders in the world.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants his country to become one of the 21st century's major powers, has insisted that the winner agree to transfer technological know-how so Brazil can acquire the specialized knowledge to build its own independent defense industry.
France's Dassault, which has put forward its Rafale fighters, has been seen as the frontrunner due to its offer of technology transfer and longstanding military links between France and Brazil.
But it faces competition from U.S. aviation giant Boeing, which has offered Brazil its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter, and Sweden's Saab, which has been talking up its Gripen NG aircraft.
Meanwhile, Russia has been eager to find new export markets for its weapons and military equipment, one of the few areas where Russian manufacturing has enjoyed strong sales abroad in recent years.
Russia has signed billions of dollars' worth of arms contracts with Brazil's neighbor Venezuela, including for the delivery of Sukhoi fighter jets to Caracas. 
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