Indian Black Panther Squadron Will Be At Its Peak Capacity By 2012

Commander B Hota, Commander-in-Chief of the squadron, informed us that the Russians will finish the delivery of 16 MiG-29K by the end of this month and the rest 29 will follow soon. By 2012 this Squadron will be fully operational and will be renamed as Squadron 303.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a press conference organised to announce golden jubilee celebrations of Naval base 'INS Hansa', located at Vasco, about 40 km from here, Hota said Black Panthers would be renamed Squadron 303.

MiG-29Ks based at INS Hansa are attached to aircraft carrier 'INS Vikramaditya', which will be commissioned in the Navy shortly.

MiG-29K is one of the most versatile and formidable carrier-borne fighter aircraft in the world. It is designed to destroy aerial targets, enemy's surface and shore targets, Navy officials said.

Commodore Ravneet Singh, Commanding Officer of INS Hansa, said the state-of-the-art simulator for MiG-29K would be ready within a couple of months.

Both the MiG-29K (single seat) and MiG-29KUB (double seat) aircraft are the "4++" generation multi-role fighters intended for air-defense missions of naval forces, air superiority gaining, sea & ground targets destruction with the high precision guided weapons day and night and in any weather conditions.
Main technical and technological innovations, applied on the MiG-29K/KUB fighters are the following:
– improved airframe with about 15% composite materials application;
– folding wing with upgraded high-lift devices improving take-off/landing performance;
– fly-by-wire control system with quadruple redundancy;
– significantly reduced signature in radar range;
– increased weapons load, stored at eight external hard points;
– increased internal fuel capacity and in-flight refueling possibility;
– possibility of other aircraft refueling being equipped with "PAZ-1MK" refueling unit.
The power plant includes two engines RD-33MK with increased thrust power, equipped with smokeless combustion chamber and new electronic control system (of FADEC type). Engines are of the module structure and have increased reliability and service life.

The airborne avionics is of the open architecture based on MIL-STD-1553B standard.

The MiG-29K/KUB will be equipped with Phazotron-NIIR Corporation's Zhuk-ME radar, which has a range of 150 km in detection mode and 130 km in tracking mode, against a target with a RCS (Radar Cross Section) of five square meters and can also fire missiles at four different targets simultaneously. The radar will have functions for operations in air-to-air and air-to-ground modes, using Thales' TopSight E helmet-mounted targeting system. Both variants will incorporate a ShKAl wide-angle monochrome HUD (Head-Up Display) and the 'K' variant will feature three MFI-10-7 high-performance liquid-crystal multi-function displays, while the 'KUB' variant will have seven such displays. The ShKAl HUD offers a 26° field of view, which allows the pilot to keep an eye on a much wider sector of airspace and use his weapons more effectively in that sector. The 6" x 8" liquid-crystal display has a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and can illustrate a digital terrain map & tactical situation data (information about aerial and ground/surface targets), thus enabling the pilot to maintain situational awareness.

The pilot is seated on a 10º inclined Zvezda K-36D-3.5 zero-zero ejection seats zero/zero ejection seat under rearward hinged transparent blister canopy in a high seat cockpit. This new ejection seat offers a G load during ejection limited to 3.5 and thus reduces the risk of spinal injuries without compromising safety. The cockpit has a sharply inclined one piece covered windscreen and three internal mirrors provide the rearward view. MNPK Avionika developed the BLP-3.5-2 ejection sequencing module for the trainer variant and this module rules out ejection seat collision during a simultaneous ejection, from an aircraft whose cockpits are enclosed by a common canopy.

Performance:

	MiG-29K	MiG-29KUB
Length, m	17,3	17,3
Wing span, m*	11,99	11,99
Height, m	4,4	4,4
Take-off weight, kg:
- standard	18 550	18 650
- maximum	24 500	24 500
Maximum flight speed, km/h:
- near ground	1400	1400
- at high altitude	2200	2100
Service ceiling, m	17 500	17 500
Maximum G-load	8	8
Ferry range, km:
- without drop tanks	2000	1700
- with 3 drop tanks	3000	2700
- with 3 drop tanks & one in-flight refueling	5500	5500
Engines	RD-33MK	RD-33MK
Take-off thrust, kgf	2х9000	2х9000
Weapons:
Number of external stations	8	8
"A-A" missiles:
- middle range	6хRVV-AE	6хRVV-AE
- short range	8хR-73E	8хR-73E
"A-S" missiles:
- anti-ship	4хKh-31A, Kh-35E	4хKh-31A, Kh-35E
- anti-radar	4хKh-31P	4хKh-31P
Guided bombs	4хKAB-500Kr	4хKAB-500Kr
Air gun, 30 mm	GSh-301	GSh-301