The Mikoyan MiG-29 twin-engine fighter was designed for the Soviet Air Force during the Cold War.
Azerbaijan may be retiring some of its older Soviet-era aircraft, but these jets are not headed to the scrapyard. Instead, the Ukrainian Air Force is opting to operate Baku’s fleet of MiG-29s. Early this month, footage depicting these fighters in Ukrainian service circulated, following a rise in tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan. In the image, a single-seat Ukrainian Air Force Fulcrum jet appears to be performing a combat mission accompanied by a full armament of short-range R-73 and medium-range R-28 air-to-air missiles. These MiG-29s will not be the only of the platform to be delivered to Kyiv, as Fulcrums have already been donated by Poland and Slovakia. In total, Warsaw transferred 14 of its MiG-29s to Kyiv. Slovakia followed and delivered 13 of its own Fulcrums to aid the nation’s defensive efforts against Russia.
The Mikoyan MiG-29 twin-engine fighter was designed for the Soviet Air Force during the Cold War. As the arms race between the USSR and the United States was heating up, Soviet engineers were tasked with developing an air superiority fighter capable of going up with its advanced American F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon counterparts. The resulting MiG-29 was designated by NATO as the “Fulcrum” and officially entered service with the Soviet Air Force in the early 1980s. Able to fly at speeds in excess of Mach 2.25 (times the speed of sound), the Soviet jet was considered to be quite impressive upon its introduction. Two Isotov RD-22 turbofans power the platform, which provide roughly 18,300 pounds of thrust each with an afterburner.
In addition to its top speed, the Fulcrum was armed to the teeth. The platform featured seven external weapon hardpoints enabling the fighter to lug two R-27 air-to-air medium-range missiles, six R-73 and R-60 air-to-air short-range missiles, four pods of unguided rockets, and a wide range of munitions. The Soviet jet was highly lethal when first introduced. As detailed by Airforce Technology, “the R-27R, which has a semi-active radar homing head and inertial navigation control with a radio link and the R-27T missile, which is fitted with an infrared homing head. The missile can intercept targets with a speed of up to 3,500 kilometers/ph at altitudes from 0.02-27 kilometers, and the maximum vertical separation between the aircraft and the target is ten kilometers.”
Despite these capabilities on paper, the MiG-29s acquired by Ukraine are not expected to be able to match the more advanced capabilities of the Su-27 air superiority jets flown by the Russian Air Force today. In the first year of Moscow’s invasion alone, open-source intelligence trackers estimate that Kyiv lost at least 17 of its Fulcrum jets in air-to-air engagements with Russian fighters. However, the continued addition of MiG-29 jets to Ukraine’s aerial arsenal will only help its own campaign against its Russian aggressor. In addition to Fulcrums, Kyiv has received other foreign fighters, including the F-16 Fighting Falcon and Su-27 Flanker platforms.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has bylines in many publications, including The National Interest, The Jerusalem Post, and The Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
Image: vaalaa / Shutterstock.com
