MiG-29 KUB prototype launched

Source URL: http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=MiG-29+KUB+prototype+launched&id=99962&category=National
Posted at: http://www.air-attack/com/news/news_article/2307

MiG has launched the prototype of the MiG-29 KUB, a jet around which the Indian Navy's operations will be centred for the next two decades.

The launch comes at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing for several new defence deals while on his visit to India.

There were huge celebrations at the once-top secret Gromov flight test centre in Zhukovskii in Russia, where the pilots have test flown the KUB fighter prototype.

Tests like these were once routine during the Soviet era, but with orders drying up from the cash-strapped Russian Air Force, companies like MiG are now dependent on contracts from countries like India.

Sixteen MiG 29s will operate off the deck of the Navy's new aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, once known as the Gorskhkov in the Russian service, and later from the indigenous aircraft carrier being constructed in Cochin.

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