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Evaluating the MG 29, a versatile fighter

Aviation has been in my blood and having spent two decades in the Air Force, I would say that my first love is fighter jets. In the 70s and 80s, the Americans had launched the F15 / 16 and the Russians were looking for a comparative aircraft. The Russians produced the MIG 29. The cold war was a reality and produced two fighters who never actually participated in a direct confrontation.

What was the best plane? It is a question that is not easy to answer. Is it the more sophisticated F 16 or the old badass Soviet MIG-29? The comparison is of great interest and we find 2 different aircraft. The F16 was always designed as a lightweight and cost-effective multi-purpose jet for the more expensive F-15. In contrast, we have the MIG 29, which was a typical air superiority fighter that didn’t care much about avionics.

In the West, the 29th appeared with an outstanding performance and with much mystery. No one at the time knew about the aircraft’s capabilities and many wondered if the 29 was really that good.

The Cold War was in full swing, and while American and Russian planes never engaged in combat with each other, they took advantage of the minds of both nations. It was a matter of ego and both nations had the concept that my aircraft or my weapons systems should be bigger and better and this led to a tremendous arms race. In the 50s and 60s the race between the two nations began and the Russians had the MIG-15 to the American F 86. Both planes entered combat in the Korean War and at that time the Americans had a slight advantage.

The Russians brought improvements and soon they had the MIG21 and 23. The Americans brought the Phantom F4 and very soon the F15 appeared on the scene and this time the Russians did not have a comparison plane because the 23 was less than the 15 and the 16.

Lots of research and the MIG 29 came on the scene. Americans didn’t know much about this plane at the time it appeared on the scene in 1980, three years after Americans 15 and 16 were operational.

As was the practice, NATO gave it the name Fulcrum and the Russians called it MIG 29. The MiG 29 came in two versions A and B. Version A could carry the nuclear bomb and was kept by the Soviet Air Force. The second version was exported to 29 countries from Poland to Burma. More than 629 of these aircraft were built and, to date, about 793 aircraft are still in service. India was one of the first nations to purchase the MiG 29 and it is still in service. The Kargil conflict in 1998 was used to lethal effect.

Even now, with the growing tension with China, the Indian Air Force has reordered a substantial number of 29 aircraft from Russia and they are on their way.

But in numbers, 29 is far behind 15/16. To date, more than 3,000 F 15/16s are in operation around the world, showing that the US aircraft has a larger market.

The MIG 29 is a simple air superiority fighter but at $ 23.7 million it is $ 12 million cheaper than the American aircraft. A comparison between the two planes is very interesting. The 29 has a range of about 1,100 miles compared to the 15/16, which is over 4,000, but the 29 was never designed for long-range action. It’s a force when it comes to climb speed though, because it has two engines compared to the single engine on the 15/16. The Russian aircraft has a speed of 2.25 Mach versus the American 2.05 aircraft, so there is not much difference there.

The MIG has a 18,000m higher ceiling than 15,000 US aircraft but in terms of sophistication with ECM and ECCM, the US aircraft is superior. The maneuverability of the MIG 29 is absolutely fantastic and you can perform amazing aerobatics and there is something called a Cobra maneuver that the MIG can perform with ease. This is one of the most dazzling maneuvers of the 29 and I can guarantee it.

It is a maneuver in which an aircraft flying at moderate speed suddenly raises the nose momentarily to the vertical position and slightly beyond, momentarily stopping the aircraft and turning it into a full-body air brake, before dropping it back to normal, during which the aircraft does not change the effective altitude.

Last word

People will generally have the feeling that the MIG 29 scores over the F-16, but there is a catch and that concerns serviceability. It needs an overhaul every 2,500 hours compared to 6,000 for the American plane and, as I have already noted in terms of radar and ECM, the F-15/16 is way ahead of the Russian plane.

The MIG 29 comes with a single GSH 3130 MM cannon and four pylons to carry rockets and missiles. The Russian MiG 29A that was not exported can carry a single nuclear bomb.

The Americans were eager to get their hands on a MIG 29 and they got it in a very strange way. They bought 21 MIG 29 in flight condition from Moldovia. Russia was unable to stop the sale and all 29 made their way to America and were used by the US Air Force, they dismantled the planes and got all the technical data. The Americans staged a coup by getting these planes. These are now scattered in American museums throughout the United States.

MIG 29 has had a lot of combat experience outside of Russia. India bought 66 planes and they were used in the Kargil war and Yugoslavia used them in the Kosovo war. They were used in the Iraq-Iran war and then eventually went into combat against the same aircraft that was supposed to coincide in the Iraq war with the F-16. The Americans claimed to have shot down 6 MIG 29s, but the Russians also claimed several kills that were denied, but that’s part of the game. Never accept your losses and exaggerate the loss of the enemy. The Indians did not lose a single plane in the Kargil conflict.

On a personal level, I have a lot of love for the MiG 29. It is a wonderful aircraft and you can do wonderful aerobatics with it. It is a simple air superiority fighter. I only wrote this article for the fun of it because in the recent conflict with China, the Indian government has asked for more MIG 29s and they are on the way.