The flight tests of the Mikoyan MiG-35 (NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-F) will begin in January 2017, Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin has said while visiting the Fakel Plant, a subsidiary of Almaz-Antei Corp. "We expect the MiG-35 multirole fighter to fly in January 2017," the vice-premier said. "Mikoyan has not built new planes for a while."

He reminded that there have been numerous MiG-29 versions, including the carrierborne MiG-29K/KUB.

"I would say that it [aircraft production] is a very profitable business even from the economic viewpoint, let alone national defense, because it is light fighter jets that feature the highest exportability," Rogozin emphasized. "Therefore, we are making no secret of our intention to compete with our rivals in this market segment."

The deputy prime minister also said the Ilyushin Il-112V light airlifter would conduct its maiden flight in 2017 too by order President Vladimir Putin.

"All relevant decisions have been made for the plane needed by the Russian Armed Forces featured a considerable advantage based on Russian solutions," Rogozin noted. "It is the Russian-made TV7-117ST engine that will power it."

According to him, the development of the engine designed to equip the Il-112V paves the way for developing the Il-114-300 short-haul turboprop aircraft to be powered by a TV7-117-family engine too.