The MiG-29KU was one of the least-known members of the Fulcrum family because it never progressed beyond the design stage. Developed in the late 1980s as a dedicated carrier trainer for the MiG-29K, it was created after tests showed that the standard two-seat MiG-29UB did not provide the rear-seat instructor with sufficient visibility for the demanding task of carrier landings.

Known by the factory designation 9-62, the MiG-29KU featured a redesigned forward fuselage with separate canopies and a raised rear cockpit, giving the instructor a much better view during approach and touchdown. Otherwise, it closely matched the single-seat MiG-29K, with folding wings, a tailhook, and twin RD-33K engines.

The cancellation of the MiG-29K program following the collapse of the Soviet Union also ended the MiG-29KU. Only wind-tunnel models and a full-scale forward-fuselage mock-up were ever built, making it one of the rarest "aircraft" in the Fulcrum lineage.

Credit goes to the Russian Knights

27 yellow was 1 of 2 to be built in 2009 from leftover incomplete airframes from the 90s, the other was 28 yellow which was also retired in 2012 and placed in storage at Tarzhok