I didn't know that they only had an export version.
The USSR viewed its export customers, Warsaw Pact and other allies, including China, with a mixture of distrust and a measure of disposability and hence, NOBODY outside of Russia and Ukraine got top-line Soviet hardware unless it was being operated BY Soviet soldiers reporting to Moscow. They sold MiG-29's to Iraq, several countries in Africa, and most notably, India (with whom Russia still operates joint design and manufacturing on the Su-30MK) in addition to deploying them in its satellite countries. They exported/licensed several aircraft designs to China that were substantially dumbed-down on purpose and for fear of their "ally" reverse engineering and producing unlicensed, superior craft (justifiably so, look into the Chinese "J-15" sometimes). The export variant of the MiG-29 generally had lower-powered engines (88% of Soviet standards), much more primitive radar, and a much-downgraded version of the passive optical targeting system, but there were different standards for different destinations. Bascially the idea is a new airframe with lesser engines would be up for export, but the electronics, weapons, and radar supported by that model would be two to three generations older.
