Mikoyan MiG-29

Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29A 105, 23.BLT (1.elt) Polish Air ForceMikoyan Gurevich MiG-29A 105, 23.BLT (1.elt) Polish Air Force

The Mikoyan MiG-29 (Russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: “Fulcrum”) is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s.

  • Role: Air superiority fighter, multirole fighter
  • National origin: Sovjet Union
  • Manufacturer: Mikoyan
  • First flight: 6 October 1977
  • Introduction: July 1983
  • Status: In service
  • Produced: 1982–present
  • Number built: 1,600+
  • Variants: Mikoyan MiG-29M, Mikoyan MiG-29K, Mikoyan MiG-35

Military operators

  • Algerian Air Force – 26 MiG-29
  • Azerbaijani Air Forces – 13 MiG-29
  • Bangladeshi Air Force – 8 MiG-29SE (6 MiG-29B and 2 MiG-29UB)
  • Belarusian Air Force – 41 MiG-29
  • Bulgarian Air Force – 14 MiG-29 and four MiG-29UB
  • Chadian Air Force – 3 MiG-29
  • Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force – 4 MiG-29
  • Egyptian Air Force – Negotiating for 24 MiG-29s
  • Eritrean Air Force – 4 MiG-29
  • Indian Air Force – 67 MiG-29
  • Indian Naval Air Arm – 20 MiG-29K
  • Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force – 25 MiG-29
  • Kazakh Air and Air Defence Forces – 40 MiG-29
  • Royal Malaysian Air Force – 12 MiG-29
  • Mongolian Air Force – Five MiG-29
  • Myanmar Air Force – 36 MiG-29
  • Peruvian Air Force – 19
  • Korean People’s Air Force – 10-15
  • Polish Air Force – 38
  • Russian Air Force – ~230–291 MiG-29
  • Serbian Air Force and Air Defence – three MiG-29s and one MiG-29UB
  • Slovak Air Force – 6
  • Sudanese Air Force – 12
  • Syrian Arab Air Force – 19 MiG-29
  • Turkmen Air Force – 24 MiG-29
  • Ukrainian Air Force – 80 MiG-29
  • United States – Used by private defense contractor Air USA for adversary training services
  • Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces – 60 MiG-29
  • Yemeni Air Force – 18 MiG-29SMTs and one MiG-29UBT

Former military operators

  • Czechoslovakia – Received 18 MiG-29s and two MiG-29UB aircraft
  • Czech Republic – Inherited nine MiG-29 and one MiG-29UB
  • East Germany – 24 absorbed into the West German Air Force upon reunification
  • Germany – One crashed, one on display, 22 sold to Poland
  • Hungary – 28
  • Iraq – during Saddam Hussein’s era. These were destroyed or written off
  • Israel – leased from Poland in 1997
  • Moldova – not operational, six MiG-29S in storage
  • Romania – 17 MiG-29 and five MiG-29UB
  • Serbia and Montenegro – Inherited from Yugoslavia, six shot down in 1999
  • Yugoslavia – 14 MiG-29 and 2 MiG-29UB

Specifications (MiG-29)

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 17.37 m (57 ft)
  • Wingspan: 11.4 m (37 ft 3 in)
  • Height: 4.73 m (15 ft 6 in)
  • Wing area: 38 m² (409 ft²)
  • Empty weight: 11,000 kg (24,250 lb)
  • Loaded weight: 15,300 kg (33,730 lb)
  • Max. takeoff weight: 20,000 kg (44,100 lb)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Klimov RD-33 afterburning turbofans, 8,300 kgf (81.4 kN, 18,300 lbf) each
  • Fuel capacity: 3,500 kg. (7,716 lbs.) internal

Performance

  • Maximum speed: Mach 2.25 (2,400 km/h, 1,490 mph) At low altitude: Mach 1.25 (1,500 km/h, 930 mph)
  • Range: 1,430 km (772 nmi, 888 mi) with maximum internal fuel
  • Ferry range: 2,100 km (1,300 mi) with external drop tanks
  • Service ceiling: 18,013 m (59,100 ft)
  • Rate of climb: initial 330 m/s average 109 m/s 0–6000 m (65,000 ft/min)
  • Wing loading: 403 kg/m² (82 lb/ft²)
  • Thrust/weight: 1.09
  • Maximum design g-load: +9 g

Armament

  • 1 x 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannon with 150 rounds
  • 9 Hard points: 6 x pylons under-wing, 3 x under fuselage
  • Up to 3,500 kg (7,720 lb) of weapons including six air-to-air missiles — a mix of semi-active radar homing (SARH)/infrared homing AA-8 “Aphid”, AA-10 “Alamo”, AA-11 “Archer”, active radar homing AA-12 “Adder”, FAB 500-M62, FAB-1000, TN-100, ECM Pods, S-24 rockets, Kh-25, Kh-29

Avionics

  • Phazotron N019 Rubin radar
  • N010 Zhuk radar