According to some sources the MAKS'95 aka Mosaeroshow'95 was a bit of a disappointment. Expected to be one of the main attractions of the show - new Mikoyan stealth fighter Article 1.42/1.44 was not on the display contrary to the predictions circulated in aviation press.

I attended on the Friday (static), Saturday (static & limited flying display) and Sunday (full flying display). The expected highlights were to have been the first public appearance of the new MiG fighter, the 1.42, and a new version of the Su-35 Flanker with thrust-vectoring nozzles, but in the event, neither put in an appearance.

With a static line up that seemed to go on for miles, there was still plenty to see, including the Su-34/Su-32FN, side number 45,the two contenders for the Russian trainer order - the MiG-AT and the Yak-130, a mock-up of the side-by-side two-seat development of the Ka-50 - the Ka-52, a Su-25 Frogfoot development designated Su-25TM with a centreline radar pod, a Yak-141 Freestyle VTOL shupboard fighter, the MMW-radar equipped Mi-28N Havoc, a new AEW version of the Kamov Ka-32 with underslung folding radar antenna and two new Tupolev airliners, the Tu-234 and Tu-334 as well as the stretched freighter, the Il-76MF.

My main interest centred on the Su-34 (now apparently designated Su-32FN - don't ask why). The one in the static display had the side number 45 as well as its Paris show number 349 in white. This was camouflaged in an interesting blue-green scheme that differs from the earlier Su-34 side number 43. Amongst the many books and magazines I purchased was a new one from Polygon on the Su-34. Although the text is in Russian, the pictures and drawingsare not and it will come in very useful when the Italeri kit ofthe Su-34 is released later this year. Incidentally, it would appear from the drawings that the prototype Su-27IB has a Sukhoi design number of T10B-1 whilst the production Su-34/Su-32FN is designated T10B-2.

On the Saturday a Su-35 went up and gave a very spirited display that included some very tight turns, a tailslide, a Cobra and the imressive horizontal Cobra, the Hook manouevre. So agile was hethat at first we thought that it was the new thrust-vectoring Su-35, but it turned out to be a 'standard' Su-35 , thesand/brown/green demonstrator number 709. It was replaced in the Sunday flying display by another Su-35 in blue/grey splinter camouflage, side number 703 which gave a far less agressive display. The last item on Sunday was the Su-34 prototype, the Su-27IB, side number 42, which gave a very impressive display and was remarkably agile, considering that it is meant to be a fighter-bomber to replace the Su-24 Fencer.

All in all a very enjoyable show and one that I shall certainly attend again in 1997.

Ken Duffey
September 1995

No I-42 at Mosaeroshow this year

...Seems like this is going to be the only info about the I-42 in the nearest future...

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's new stealth fighter jet dodged public attention on Friday when nervous military officials abruptly canceled its premiere at the nation's largest air show.
The debut of the MiG stealth fighter, known in the West as I-42, was expected to be the most dramatic event of the weeklong Moscow International Air Show at the formerly top-secret Zhukovsky air base. The show features some 400 companies from 23 countries.
The aircraft has gone through pre-flight tests at the base, which has Europe's longest runway at 3.4 miles.
But spectators had to settle for watching more standard fighter jets shrieking overhead at low altitudes as the MAPO-MiG company held its day at the show Friday.
``The Defense Ministry decided not to put the aircraft on display, being reluctant to reveal its advanced design,'' Anatoly Belosvet, the company's first deputy director, said at a news conference.
MiG claims the aircraft is superior not only to the operational U.S. F-117 stealth fighter, which took part in the Gulf War, but even to a more advanced F-22, which is still far from production. ``Our fighter is much more versatile, having strike capabilities, unlike its U.S. counterpart which is only good for air combat,'' Belosvet told The Associated Press. ``It also has a longer range.''
Police and army troops stood guard to prevent visitors from leaving a huge aisle, lined with dozens of Russian and some Western aircraft, to see the test center hangars across the field.
Chinese and Indian businessmen, Western military attaches and Russian children roamed between white passenger jets, large gray Tupolev bombers and brightly colored helicopters.
More than 60,000 MiGs have been built since the 1940s, and 6,000 of them have been exported to 42 countries, Belosvet said. The company has been actively pushing to sell more planes abroad and to win contracts to modernize its fleet.
It has been tougher for the company to sell its aircraft domestically. The Defense Ministry, squeezed by a lack of funds, has said it won't buy any new fighters next year.