Mikoyan and Gurevich- MiG-29 Fulcrum

Quick Summary

• Single seat-multi-role fighter, highly agile, best comparable with the F/A-18
• One Gsh-301 30mm singel barrel cannon, 6 to 8 AA-8, AA-10 or AA-11 air to air missiles
• Mach 2.3, Ceiling: 35,800 ft. Range: 745 mi.
• Two 11,100 lb thrust Klimov/Leningrad RD-33 after burning bypass turbofan engines.

Russia's Mikoyan and Gurevich design bureau came up with a real winner when the MiG-29 burst on the scene in 1977. Using advanced technology to make the fulcrum a real slugger in meduim-range and close quarter combat, engineers created a fighter that is one of the worlds most manuverable. In the right hands a MiG-29 can fight and win in a close-in, gloves-off dogfight against any warplane in service today. All powered machinery generates infrared energy in the form of heat. Jet engines are particularly powerful heat generators. The heat generated by the engines and by the air friction on the aircrafts skin is broadcast miles around. The heat can be detected by another aircraft equipped with a heat sensor. The MiG-29 has an infrared search and track system that can detect an aircraft sized heat source at more than 50 miles. Once a target has been detected, the MiG-29 uses a laser beam to measure its distance and bearing. Weapons can then be locked on without the need for giveaway radar transmissions. Today the MiG-29 is perhaps the best-known Soviet fighter in service. Numerous visits have been made to the West, including participation at the world's most important air shows, where the aircraft has stunned onlookers by performing manoeuvres that cannot be emulated by contemporary Western fighters at air show altitudes. The Mikoyan designers and pilots alike have revealed themselves to be men of good humour and old-world charm, answering many questions with astonishing candour. As always, there are two sides to the coin. Some aspects of the aircraft remain a closed book, and awkward questions receive the standard Brezhnev-era replies of "That is not interesting", or unhelpfully vague responses like "Sufficient", or "Very big/great". While Western pilots have even been allowed to fly the aircraft, their flights have been strictly controlled, and the weapons system, navigation equipment and even the head-up display have not been demonstrated. In addition the aircraft was created using a totally different set of design criteria to the Western fighters with which we are familiar, making objective assessment extremely difficult. As a result the MiG-29 remains something of an enigma, and so-called experts have made radically different assessments of the aircraft. The most important difference between the weapons system of the MiG-29 and that on contemporary Western fighters is that the radar forms only one element of the MiG-29’s fire control system. This integrated system comprises the radar, the wide angle helmet mounted target designator system and an advanced electro-optical Infra-Red Search and Track system (IRST), all of which are linked via the mission and fire control computers. The electro-optical set comprises an IR tacker and a laser rangefinder, and in clear skies allows the MiG-29 pilot to make an emission-free interception, detecting, aquiring, tracking and launching missiles without using the radar. Its dimensions are Span: 37ft. 4in. Length: 56ft. 10in Height: 15ft. 7in. Wing area: 410 sq. ft.