The RD-33 engine has a two-shaft turbine configuration with exhaust mixing in the afterburner. The engine features a modular design. The lowpressure compressor has four stages; the highpressure compressor has nine stages. The engine has a short annular combustion chamber and single-stage low- and high-pressure turbines. The afterburner is common for both ducts. The engine features a variable-area supersonic propelling nozzle. Due to good gas-dynamic stability, the RD-33 engines do not impose any limitations on piloting and feature high spool-up capacity. The RD-33 is designed to power the MiG-29 fighter family.

Variants

The RD-33 Series 3 engine with an extended service life is designed to power MiG-29M, MiG- 29M2, MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB aircraft. The RD-33N engine is designed to power the Mirage F1 fighter upgrade. It has a bottom gearbox, and can also be fitted on MiG-21 and Mirage III aircraft upgrades. The RD-93 engine was developed for the Chinese FC-1 aircraft. The RD-133 engine is designed for the MiG- 29 aircraft. It features a fully variable nozzle with thrust vectoring and a new automatic hydromechnical electronic control system.