Space occupied by the second cockpit in the MiG-35UB two-seat version built for the RuASF, seen here, is used to accommodate an additional 400-litre fuel tank on the single-seater

The new developments around the MiG-35 programme, revealed at the MAKS-2019 show and aimed at export customers, were centred on the extensive structural redesign of a demonstrator aircraft equipped with an AESA radar, developed by the Phazotron-NIIR company, known as the Zhuk-A/AM

In 2014, the MiG-35’s development programme was at last given a much-needed funding boost by the Russian MoD. The initial pair of newly built examples - referred to as pre-production aircraft and earmarked for use in the type’s exhaustive testing and evaluation effort - is known to have taken to the air for the first time in November 2016

On completion of the MiG-35’s development and testing effort, an order for 30-plus examples for the RuAF was originally expected to be placed in late 2018

It is not yet clear if the MiG-35s built for the RuASF will get the T220 targeting pod, developed by the Moscow-based NIIP company, featuring the same sensor outfit as that of the nose-mounted OLS-UEM

This is the first pre-series MiG-35S, a single-seater, delivered in 2019 to the RuASF for participation in the extended flight-testing programme

This is the two-seater Fulcrum, known to have been the first to get the MiG-35 designation during 2007. Developed on the basis of one of the MiG-29M’s original prototypes, serialled 154, it was used for demonstrator purposes during the Indian MRCA fighter competition

The initial pair of newly built MIG-35s - referred to as pre-production aircraft and earmarked for use in the type’s exhaustive testing and evaluation effort - took to the air for the first time in November 2016

The Klimov RD-33MK engine, powering the MiG-35 and MIG-29M/M2 derivatives, is rated at 19,836lb st at full afterburner, while time between overhaul is 1,000 hours and the service life is set at 4,000 hours

The MiG-35 features a newly introduced sophisticated self-protection suite, including the L-150 Pastel radar warning receiver. There is also the MSP-418K jammer pod offered for this Fulcrum derivative, seen in the foreground

This is one of the two pre-series MiG-35s, serialled Blue 11, built in 2019, seen here positioned behind a wide array of guided air-to-surface ordinance integrated, or intended for integration on the new-generation Fulcrums for the RuASF

The T220 pod, seen here suspended under the starboard engine nacelle, was built to be used for target detection and identification as well as for the designation of laser-guided munitions

The enhanced aerodynamical configuration of the export-orientated, pumped-up Fulcrum - unveiled at MAKS-2019 and showed again at MAKS-2021 - has redesigned extended-area vertical fins with the rudder placed flush with the trailing edge and cropped top surface instead of the original canted downwards design