Misidentified MiG-35 from 1988

[hesham]

From Krila 4/1988,

here is a misidentified for MiG-35,to be look like F-16.

 

[Jemiba]

Quite clearly the MiG-21 based Ye-8 (see https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/ye-8-to-mig-23.31693/ ,
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/mikoyan-gurevich-ye-8-sps-blown-flap-or-not.22069/ )
If a prototype was actually the start of a series of aircraft, and which designation it would get was always
open to speculation during cold war times, as were first drawings. And such speculations naturally got
support from "the other side" ...

 

[Apophenia]

The confusion seems to spring from misinterpretation of a Jane's Defence Weekly article - Indians Fly new Soviet MiG-35s by Nick Cook and Yossef Bodansky (JDW, 13 Aug 1988, page 235).

"In May 1988, IAF pilots were allowed to fly the MIG-35. Believed to be at an advanced stage in its development programme, the fighter was on offer to India as a fallback solution to its indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme."

Soviet Relations with India and Vietnam, Ramesh Thakur & Carlyle A. Thayer, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1992, page 97

Since the Indian Air Force introduced MiG-29s into service in 1985, the aircraft in question were clearly something else - possibly the MiG-29S? The use of MiG-35 may suggest that the Soviets were already applying that designation to potential export versions of the MiG-29 in the late 1980s. Obviously, the current MiG-35 export variants came much later.

The Krila write probably assumed that the IAF pilots were testing a Soviet fighter which more closely matched LCA requirements. In reality, the Soviets had no such genuinely lightweight fighter aircraft to offer then - certainly not the Ye-8!

 

[flateric]

Looks pretty much like Izd.33

 

[Hood]

Yes, this seems to be an interesting mix of mangled intelligence.

The drawing is obviously based on the Ye-8. Whatever the Indian pilots flew it must have been a MiG-29 variant.
Interestingly, the excerpt does mention a 'MiG-33' at the end, which presumably was the real Izdeliye 33. It seems the authors confused the Izdeliye 33 with two different MiG numbers, influenced by the Janes' article.

 

[hesham]

Looks pretty much like Izd.33

My dear Flateric is right;

from Krila 5/1991,so we can transfer this topic to a proper place,here;

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/mig-product-33.1249/

 

[paralay]

The side number of this model is "33", which hints that the model is "MiG-33". The MiG-35 was to be called 1.42

 

[Aubi]

In the text they call the model Ye-33 and present it as single engine light fighter in similar cathegory as F-16 that was ultimately dropped in favor of MiG-29.