During a press conference here at the Paris Air show on Tuesday, MiG announced it has been selected by the Slovak Air Force to upgrade its MiG-29s. The Russian-made fighters will be upgraded to NATO standards and ICAO requirements.

For example, the improved avionics kit will include a Rockwell Collins multimode short-range navigation and landing receiver, a tactical navigation transceiver, a radio and a satellite navigation receiver. BAE Systems supplies an interrogator-transponder for state identification. HR Smith provides a multifrequency emergency radio beacon. Aircraft lighting comes from Goodrich Hella Aerospace Lighting Systems.

The new central processor, the mission computer, the video recorder, the multifunction displays and the MIL-STD-1553B compliant databus are all Russian made. All units will be imperial, with feet and pounds instead of meters and kilograms, for instance.

Slovakia’s Letecke Opravovne Trencin facility will be involved in an offset. The whole fleet will be modernized by the end of 20