Nine New Technologies to Revive Russia’s MiG-35: Realising the Fighter’s True Combat Potential

Developed from the mid-2000s as a heavily enhanced derivative of and successor to the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/mig29-fighter-marks-40-years-in-service-how-russia-s-extremely-manoeuvrable-fighter-has-evolved" >Soviet MiG-29</a>, the MiG-35 medium weight fighter program had by the middle of the 2020s fallen far short of expectations, with just six aircraft in service and no apparent plans to produce more. While the enhanced MiG-29M fighter had seen considerable success on export markets, with 46 sold to Egypt, 14 to Algeria, and 45 and 24 carrier based MiG-29K derivatives for service in the navies of India and Russia itself respectively, the MiG-35 never received foreign or domestic orders at anywhere near the levels predicted. Reports from early 2025, however, indicate that this may change in future, as the Russian Defence Ministry and the state owned United Aircraft Corporation reportedly plan to <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-resurrecting-mig35-ukraine-nkorea-opportunities" target="_blank">facilitate production </a>of the aircraft on a significant scale for the Russian Aerospace Forces. Such orders have the potential to revive the program, and allow many of the new technologies developed over the past decade, the majority of them for Russia’s new <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-prepares-su57m1-production-airframe-upgrades" target="_blank">Su-57 fifth generation fighter</a>, to be integrated onto the lighter MiG aircraft, thereby enhancing its combat potential and making it a far more competitive performer on international markets. Five of the most significant new technologies which the fighter could integrate are explored below:&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/23/article_683089c334ba37_85902284.jpeg" title="Unarmed MiG-35 Fighter Takes Off with External Fuel Tanks – MiG-29 in the Background">R-77M Air-to-Air Missiles&nbsp;A primary limitation of Russian fighters compared to their American, Chinese and even European counterparts has been a lack of top performing air-to-air missiles. While the R-77-1 represents a broad equivalent to the American AIM-120C5 and Chinese PL-12, not only did Russia operationalise the missile relatively late around 2014, but it also fielded no counterpart to the Chinese PL-15 and PL-16 or to the American AIM-120D or AIM-260. The result is that Russian fighter unit such as the Su-35 and MiG-35 are outranged by close to 100 kilometres, and in some cases more, when using their standard armament. The R-77M developed for the Su-57 fighter has the potential to largely bridge the gap in performance, and has a range of approximately 200 kilometres compared to just 110 kilometres for the R-77-1. The missile is reported to use an AESA radar in its homing head for greater immunity to jamming and a longer target lock on range, while its active phased array antenna technology is intended to provide the missile with a fuller and wider angle picture of its target making it far more difficult to evade. For the MiG-35 to compete with modern Chinese and American fighters such as the combat proven J-10C in the air-to-air domain, integration of the R-77M or a similarly capable weapon is considered vital.<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/23/article_683089893fa275_77862127.jpeg" title="R-77M Air-to-Air Missiles Carried on External Pylons on Su-57 Fighter">izdeliye 810 Air-to-Air Missiles&nbsp;The izdeliye 810 has been developed as a miniaturised derivative of the R-37M very long range air-to-air missile, and reportedly entered service in early 2025 with an engagement range of over 300 kilometres. While the MiG-35 was previously reported by Russian state sources to be compatible with the R-37M, not only does the fighter lack the operational altitude or cruising speed needed to make fully effective use of it, but the missile’s very large size means it will take a significant toll on the MiG-35’s flight performance and leave little carrying capacity for other ordinance. Integration of the izdeliye 810 has the potential to provide the MiG-35 with the longest air-to-air engagement range from fighters of its weight range, although the fighter’s relatively small radar is not considered capable of guiding the missile to targets at its fully range, meaning it will need to be networked with other assets such as MiG-31 interceptors or forward-deployed ground-based systems to provide guidance. &nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/23/article_6830896646a669_43770862.jpg" title="R-37M Air-to-Air Missile">Modern Radar and Helmet-Mounted Targeting SystemThe MiG-35 was initially expected to be the first Russian fighter to enter service with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, the&nbsp; Zhuk-A/AM, although the six aircraft purchased by the Defence Ministry al integrated the older Zhuk-ME passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar. This was reportedly done to cut costs, although there was significant speculation that the decision was taken due to delays in developing the Zhuk-A/AM. Russia’s radar industry has since progressed significantly, with the Su-57 fighter’s N036-1-01 frontal AESA radar set to be replaced in the near future on the new Su-57M1 variant with a next generation AESA radar. A more capable AESA radar for the MiG-35, possibly based on that of the Su-57M1, could significantly bolster situational awareness and electronic warfare capabilities. While other Russian tactical combat jets such as the Su-35 and MiG-31 integrate much larger radars than their Western counterparts, allowing them to compensate for shortcomings in sophistication with sheer size and power, the MiG-35’s as a&nbsp; considerably smaller capacity to carry a radar, meaning integration of the most sophisticated sensor suite possible is vital.Alongside a new radar, other avionics can also help to significantly boost situational awareness. In December 2024 Russian state media&nbsp; unveiled a new helmet-mounted targeting system for the Su-57, which resembles similar systems used on the Chinese J-20 and American F-35 fifth generation fighters that work by projecting critical information directly onto the pilot’s visor. This includes&nbsp; flight and targeting data, providing a much more comprehensive view of the operational environment.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/23/article_68308937ac4625_51462392.png" title="Su-57 and New Helmet System">New Cruise Missile and Guided BombThe <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/su57-cruise-missile-debut-ukraine">Kh-59MK2 cruise missile</a> was designed as the primary air to ground armament of the Su-57 fighter, and if integrated onto the MiG-35 could provide a formidable long range strike capability that heavily compensates for the fighter’s lack of stealth capabilities. The missile class optimised for neutralising small hardened targets at long ranges of close to 300km, and carries either a 320 kilogram penetrating warhead, or a smaller pellet warhead designed to affect targets over a wider area. Other warheads proposed have included a more powerful penetrator and a cluster munition carrier.&nbsp;A further class of air-to-ground ordinance developed for the Su-57, but with significant potential to be integrated onto the MiG-35, is the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-drel-precision-cluster-production">PBK-500U&nbsp;Drel </a>500kg precision guided glide bomb. Glide bombs have emerged during the Russian-Ukrainian War as a weapon of choice for precision strikes and close air support, and while delivering far greater quantities of ordnance and at a far lower cost than cruise missiles, they can still be launched from sufficient distances that fighters are relatively safe from being targeted by most surface-to-air missile systems. The Drel bomb provides “fire and forget” capabilities, meaning they do not require illumination of its targets or wire guidance by an aircraft, and instead use&nbsp;inertial and GLONASS satellite guidance and an identification friend or foe system accurate enough to engage fast moving targets. Each bomb contains fifteen self-guided anti-tank element charges which weigh around fifteen kilograms each, with these high payload sub munitions combined with the bomb’s precision allowing a very small number of Drel bombs to cause tremendous damage that would require multiple bombing runs if using older bombs. Although the MiG-35 has a much lower takeoff weight, it can carry comparable amounts of ordinance to a stealth configured Su-57 as it does not need to store its weaponry internally.<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/23/article_683088fa097659_32931580.jpg" title="Kh-59MK2 Cruise Missile">Electronic Warfare SuiteAs has been the case for many ‘4+ generation’ fighters, MiG-35’s designers may compensate for the fighter’s lack of stealth capabilities by placing a strong emphasis on integrating a powerful electronic warfare suite. One significant possibility is that the fighter could integrate a derivative of the Su-57’s Himalayas suite, which is distributed across the stealth fighter’s&nbsp; including on the wings, allowing it to better interfere with enemy targeting systems and protect the fighter from missile attacks from all directions. Russian media reports indicate that the suite’s long range exceeds the effective use radius of most Western air-to-air missiles. Integration of such an electronic warfare suite, or possibly one using more advanced technologies developed for the newer Su-57M1 fighter, could significantly improve the MiG-35’s survivability. Integration of derivatives of the Su-57’s avionics onto another aircraft would be far from unprecedented, with a notable example being the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/su-57-communications-systems-to-be-integrated-onto-tu-22m3m-tactical-bombers">integration</a> of a communications platform closely based on that of the stealth fighter onto modernised Tu-22M3M bombers.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/23/article_683088b51b92d5_33713478.jpg" title="MiG-35 Demonstrates Manoeuvrability">EnginesIn the 1990s Russian industry completed development of an enhanced variant of the MiG-29’s RD-33 engine, the RD-33M which significantly reduced fuel consumption, ended black smoke emissions, and increased maximum thrust by nine percent from 81kN to 88.26kN. The MiG-35 has continued to rely on these ageing engines, and could benefit significantly in its flight performance, range, and the amount of energy available for onboard subsystems if integrating a more modern powerplant that utilises more of the technologies developed in the past 30 years. In particular, a smaller engine developed based on the technologies used in the Su-57M1 fighter’s AL-51F engines could help to significantly reduce operational costs and maintenance needs while providing a flight performance unrecognisable from that of the original MiG-35. With the fighter’s range being a primary deficiency relative to heavier classes of fighter, a modern engine would do much to bridge the performance gap, while major savings on operational costs could help to compensate for the greater cost of producing a more advanced powerplant.&nbsp;