Zhuk-MAE radar testing is 'progressing well'
Reuben F Johnson JDW Correspondent
Zhuhai
Officials from Russian company Phazotron have reported that the flight testing and validation of the Zhuk-MAE active electronically scanning array (AESA) radar is progressing well.
"All of the operational modes, the reliability, the characteristics of the radar's design, have been validated and confirmed. All has transpired according to our computer designs and projections and it is now simply a case of expanding out the range and performance through additional testing and design refinements," said Phazotron General Director Yuri Guskov.
The original complement of only two Zhuk-MAE prototypes has now been expanded to four units, with the AESA version of the Zhuk now also flying on the prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-29K-9.41 carrier-capable aircraft.
The carrier-capable 'Fulcrum' was originally due to be fitted with a Zhuk-M model with the standard mechanical array. Putting the AESA radar onto the aircraft fuels speculation that there are other potential customers for the MiG-29K besides the Indian Navy, which is the only customer to buy the aircraft so far.
At last year's Paris Air Show, RSK-MiG officials said there was a possibility that the MiG-29K might be purchased by the Russian Navy to replace some of its Sukhoi Su-33 aircraft. The latter are of a 20-year-old design and most of their onboard systems are outmoded.
Another candidate is China's own People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), which has been debating between buying a Russian carrier-capable aircraft or building its own carrier variant of the Chengdu J-10.
Officials from Russia's Komsomolsk-na-Amure Aviation Production Association (KNAAPO), which produced the Su-33, stated at Air Show China 2006 that the PLAN would be in the market for up to 50 Su-33s, but that no decision had been taken.
More recently, a KNAAPO representative expressed concern that "any customer for a Russian carrier aircraft may be persuaded [by Moscow] to take the MiG-29K in favour of our aircraft simply because the MiG is now in production with the latest avionics and radar, whereas any newbuild model of an Su-33 would have to be refitted with all new systems similar to the Su-30MK2 configuration".
"Фазотрон" сообщает, что летные испытания БРЛС с АФАР "Жук-МАЭ" идут успешно, ранее испытывались два прототипа, а теперь их число выросло до 4, в том числе один установлен на МиГ-29К, который делают для Индии. Там же дальше спекуляции насчет того, что ВМФ РФ заинтересовался МиГ-29К в пику "Сухому", а на КнААПО этим недовольны - мол, МиГ-29К стали пропихивать китайцам, у него современная авионика и ожидается РЛС с АФАР, а Су-33 (пропихнуть который китайцам желательно для КнААПО) старая и может быть доведена разве что до уровня Су-30МК2
Что МиГ-29 впаривают китайцам слыхал и ранее, но с АФАРом он, конечно, получает преимущество