The Israeli company Elbit Systems will take part in the modernization of 11 MiG-29 fighters of the Ukrainian Air Force. Elbit Systems will install a new on-board radar with improved capabilities to detect air and ground targets, an innovative weapons control system, a new on-board computer and a number of other systems. According to preliminary estimates, the cost of upgrading one MiG-29 will be about 40 million dollars. According to the Ukrainian publication Defense Express, Elbit has received all the necessary permits from Israeli authorities to begin the work.
The Ukrainian goverment is not eager to reveal to the Israelis all the codes of operation of the missile system, and without this it is very difficult to ensure the coordinated functioning of all systems in accordance with the technical tasks formulated by the Ukrainian military. Negotiations on this subject are continuing. Only issues concerning the interoperability of Israeli innovative systems with Ukrainian-made radar and computer modules that control R-27 air-to-air missiles have not been fully resolved.
The Mikoyan MiG-29 (NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Sukhoi Su-27, was developed to counter new U.S. fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. The MiG-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Forces in 1982.
