ndia ordered the MiG-29Ks in 2004, received the first batch by 2009 and began using them on the Vikramaditya in 2012. India has spent over $2 billion on the MiG-29Ks and Russia is the sole source for many components of the aircraft as well as being under contract to perform warranty repairs and refurbishment services for these carrier aircraft. There have been problems and disappointments with the MiG-29K. The main shortcoming is that the MiG-29K is not robust enough to operate from a carrier. Russia also selected the MiG-29K to replace the Su-33 for its only carrier. The Su-33 was a ruggedized version of the Su-33 that turned out to be insufficiently rugged. The replacement was the lighter MiG-29 that, learning from the Su-33 problems, was ruggedized more effectively, or so it was thought. India has used the MiG-29K more frequently (than Russia has) and found the MiG-29K could not handle the "controlled crashes" characteristic of successful carrier landings. Meanwhile, the Russians discovered some of the same problems but kept quiet about it.
https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20190309.aspx
Honestly my first thought: "...is this going to affect Ace Combat games going forward?!" :hide:
Great article find, though, despite my hilariously narrow/absentminded reaction! :notworthy: