By the turn of the millennium, the Russian VVS had fallen behind its adversaries again in terms of air power, due to the financial issues of post-Soviet Russia. With lack of funding resulting in the failure of the Mikoyan MFI and the MiG 1.44 program to produce a 5th generation frontline fighter to replace the MiG-29, a new aircraft was required to act as a counter to the latest F-16 variants and new Eurocanard fighters such as the Typhoon, Rafale, and Gripen. RSK MiG decided to restart development of their MiG-29SMT (9.17) from the mid-90s, and presented the idea of a MiG-29 modernized for the 21st century to the Russian government. With the cost savings of updating an older airframe being the main advantage, the development of the MiG-29SMT was greenlit, and the MiG-29SMT was heavily updated and upgraded into the 9.18 and 9.19 variants. To recoup some of the development costs, both variants were almost exclusively intended for export, with a special and slightly downgraded variant of the 9.19 created exclusively for the Russian VVS to save costs. The development of the 9.19 was finalized in 2006 with pre-production aircraft performing regular test flights and air-show demonstrations to attract foreign buyers. In the following years, the MiG-29SMT (9.19) would enter mass production where it would find homes with the Russian VVS, the Algerian Air Force, and the Syrian Arab Air Force.