LUKHOVITSY (Sputnik) — The Russian Defense Ministry will sign the first contract to buy 30 MiG-35 (Fulcrum-F) multirole fighters with the MiG corporation immediately after the completion of flight tests, Russian Aerospace Forces Commander Viktor Bondarev said Friday at the aircraft's presentation.
"The first contract has not yet been concluded. This will be done after the aircraft completes the flight test program," Bondarev told reporters.
The flight tests are expected to end in summer 2017.
Bondarev also said the Aerospace Forces need the new MiG-35 to solve combat tasks in Syria.
"Thank God there are no large-scale armed conflicts now, only local, as in Syria. We need such aircraft, which would be able to solve the task," he said.
The MiG-35 is a further development of the MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-29K/KUB fighter jets, featuring improved combat capability and flight performance characteristics.
