On December 12, local time, a MiG-29K carrier-based fighter jet of the Indian Navy crashed in the Goa waters while returning to the base, but the pilots on board survived. In addition, the Indian military said the accident was under investigation. This MiG-29K crash is also the fifth MiG-29K crash that occurred in the Indian army.
In 2004, with Russia announcing a free gift to India's "Gorshkov" aircraft carrier (later "Vicharmathia" ), India needs to pay more than US$3 billion worth of US$3 billion and the rising aircraft carrier supporting system, including aircraft carrier modification fees and procurement of carrier-based aircraft . Therefore, Russia soon sold 45 MiG-29K carrier-based fighter jets to the Indian Navy for US$2.29 billion to meet the needs of the aircraft carrier and the first domestically produced aircraft carrier under construction. Among them, the MiG-29K of the "Vicramatia" aircraft carrier was established to 24. Before India's first domestically produced aircraft carrier, the remaining 21 MiG-29Ks were mainly used for land training.
As a medium-sized carrier-based fighter, the MiG-29K can well meet the operational needs of India's 40,000-ton aircraft carriers. In addition, the MiG-29K in India has also made corresponding improvements, including increasing the fuel reserves in the aircraft, replacing the new Zhuk-M multi-function radar, and being able to carry various models of air-to-air missiles , anti-ship missile and guided bomb . Obviously, although the MiG-29 is a medium-sized machine, its multi-tasking ability is stronger than the same-type land-based version and the Su-33. However, in addition to this accident, the MiG-29K has experienced four crashes in the years since it entered the Indian Navy. Among them, three crashes occurred in a row from November 2019 to November 2020. This number does not include the MiG-29UPG type that the Indian Air Force crashed during this time.
The domestically produced aircraft carrier "Vicrant" that has been in service in India will still use the remaining MiG-29K as the carrier-based fighter in the short term. However, as a medium-sized aircraft born in the Cold War era, the potential of the MiG-29K has been fully discovered, and the comprehensive combat effectiveness of this aircraft is not as good as the four and a half generations of Western fighters born after the end of Cold War . Therefore, the Indian Navy announced that it would purchase Western carrier-based fighter jets for the aircraft carrier when the "Vicrant" was still under construction. Currently, the two bidding options - the US FA-18 Block3 "Super Hornet" and the French "Gust" M have undergone land-based simulation aircraft carrier take-off and landing training, but the final bid results need to be waited for a while before they can be known.
In the air force, the Indian Air Force currently has about 60 MiG-29UPG fighter jets of 3 squadrons. These MiG-29s have been upgraded and are equipped with the "Zuke-ME" active phased array radar, and an OLS-UEM infrared search and tracking system with laser, thermal imaging and television functions. The aircraft's air combat capabilities and ground strike capabilities have been greatly improved. In addition, the Indian Air Force's MiG-29UPG also increased the internal fuel carrying capacity, with a range of up to 2,100 kilometers.
According to the Indian Air Force's next five-year plan, the MiG-29UPG of India's current three squadrons will continue to serve until 2027. From 2028, the Indian Air Force plans to replace the MiG-29UPG with the domestic LCA Mk2 "Glorious" light fighter at the speed of one squadron every year. In addition, considering that the number of fighter squadrons of the Indian Air Force will be reduced to 28 by 2027, and all MiG-29s will also be retired by 2030, the Indian Air Force can only place its hopes on obtaining more advanced Western fighters and the Indian domestic fighter jet project that is still difficult to produce.
