( ForUm ) - The 2007 State budget has appropriated 7.7 M. UAH (about 1.5 M. USD) to complete research works on the modernization of the MiG-29 fighter in 2007, Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko reported, "Cabinet press office" informed.
According to the Minister, the key factory involved in the MiG-29 modernization is the State-run defense factory "Lviv Aircraft Repair Factory". In Hrytsenko's opinion, a cooperative potential of Ukrainian plants should be entirely used in the process of the MiG-29 improvement, as well as the technological innovations obtained when modernizing foreign customers' aircrafts.
As Air Forces Commander colonel-general Anatoliy Toropchyn noted, the MiG-29 modernization enables to extend its service life up to 35-40 years from the time they had been produced, and up to 20 years of durability for engines.