Defence Ministry announced MiG 35's as the winner of the massive Indian Air Force MRCA (Multi Role Combat Aircraft) contract during President Putin's visit to New Delhi on the 25th-26th of the month January 2007.However it is not clear whether the MiG 35's will be the sole aircraft to be acquired to meet the MRCA requirement of the Indian Air Force, which has for more than a decade put forth a requirement to replace its ageing fleet of MiG 21's, MiG27's and Jaguars fighters.
It is suspected that the MRCA requirement, which was originally for 126 fighter jets, has been increased to 200 fighter jets, and that MiG 29's would acquired in numbers around 80-120.
The Mikoyan MiG-35 (Russian: Микоян МиГ-35) (NATO reporting name Fulcrum F) is the production version of the latest MiG-29 with a proven thrust vectoring engine and that uses fly-by-wire technology.
The Indian Air Force already flies an estimated 65 MiG 29 fighter jets, while the Navy has also recently acquired the marine versions of the MiG 29.
President Putin's visit is also significant because a number or energy co-operation related deals are to be announced between India & Russia, including nuclear energy co-operation.