“True. I guess it’s propaganda to make it look like totally new hardware when in fact it’s just a new “block” of MiG-29.”
How dare they assign different names to different projects! Actually, our system was also created for shady reasons. Its incredibly hard to get congress to approve a new fighter program, but very easy to get approval to “upgrade” an existing design. So we pretend its the same plane.
the most egregious example of this is the F-18 Super Hornet. Although it is shaped to resemble an original F-18, it is a completely different aircraft. It is much larger and has different fuselage, engines, wings, tail, hardpoints, and avionics.
But the Navy called it the F-18 E/F rather than go to congress and ask to build the new F-19 or whatever. Its barely more similar to the original than a Hellcat was to a Wildcat.
Kinf of like the F-15 vs the F-15E.
Basically same airframe but totally different internals.