Surya wrote:the next round of DACT with the 29 UPG will be interesting
Indeed it will. The MiG-29UPG will not be a fighter to mess with, not even for the Su-30MKI.
All of the known issues of the MiG-29, poor fuel fraction, poor MMI, poor situational awareness due to pilot having too much workload in the cockpit, and possibly a lack of a true BVR weapon like the R-77 (aside from Harry's claim that IAF Fulcrums were capable of firing R-77s, never seen it) are resolved with this upgrade. And it gives it a current generation radar and a truly capable BVR weapon, the R-77 aside from a range of weapons that previously Fulcrum pilots didn't ever need to train on.
ASTE will definitely be busy evaluating this fighter when it does arrive in India and the first squadron to receive it will have to develop new flight and weapons employment tactics for the UPG fleet, possibly with help from TACDE. Fulcrum pilots won't need to envy the MKI pilots anymore. They'll have a truly multi-role bird of their own.