The Russian Air Force’s Strizhi aerobatics group received the first batch of three new MiG-29SMT fighters to replace the base model MiG-29. Upon completion of theoretical and practical training on 5 December 2024, the planes flew to the Kubinka airfield, where the Strizhi base is located. This is reported by the press service of the aerobatic team in Telegram.
MiG-29SMT is a deep modernisation of the MiG-29 platform, which includes a fundamentally new set of onboard equipment, an expanded range of weapons and increased range. It differs visually from the basic version by a small ‘hump’ behind the cockpit, where additional fuel tanks are installed. The modernisation entailed an increase in the weight of the aircraft.
‘Look how mature it has become. He’s put on a little weight, but that only makes him look better. Very soon our beauties will acquire the familiar colouring of the Strizhi, and will get into service. Next season they will work for your pleasure’, – the message says.
Since its foundation on 6 May 1991, the Strizhi aerobatic group has been flying MiG-29 fighters. The service life of the aircraft is coming to an end and the group needs renewal. ‘Strizhi believe that the MiG-29SMT is the first stage on the way to the group’s cherished dream – the MiG-35,’ the aerobatic group’s press service emphasised.
In 2017, the command of the Russian Air Force announced plans to re-equip the Swifts with MiG-35 fighters, flight tests of which began in January 2017. Its state trials are now underway. Sergey Korotkov, UAC’s general designer, reported in 2023 that the MiG-35, designed for use in high-intensity armed conflicts and saturated air defence systems, is already being used in the special military operation zone in Ukraine.
On the 30th anniversary of the aviation group, Musheg Baloyan, director of the MiG-29M, MiG-35 and light multirole front-line aircraft programme directorate of RSC MiG, said that the corporation had approached the Russian Ministry of Defence with a proposal to equip the Strizhy aerobatic group with new aircraft.
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