Mikoyan MiG-33

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MiG-33 was the development designation of the aircraft that was eventually delivered as the MiG-29. Certain variants of the MiG-29 were designated MiG-33.^[1]

The designation MiG-33 has been associated with two different Mikoyan fighter designs. It was first employed for a single-engine, lightweight strike fighter similar in capabilities to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. More formally known as "Project 33", development work began on this design about 1980, but was cancelled in 1986 as the result of changing Soviet Air Forces requirements. More recently, the MiG-33 designation was introduced at the 1994 Farnborough Airshow as the briefly used marketing name for the MiG-29ME export model of the MiG-29M Fulcrum-E, a comprehensively upgraded, fully multirole version of the MiG-29. Although only a few MiG-29M aircraft were built (and none exported), they have served as prototypes for the development of the latest, most advanced Fulcrum variant, the MiG-35.