the mid-29 fulcrum strengths and weaknesses of the mainstay of the ukrainian air force fighter fleet
the eu intending to donate old mig-29 and su-25 of different nato air forces to ukraine we believe a
review and analysis of the mig-29 native codename fulcrum is in order of year the mate 29 was the
first fourth generation soviet fighter to be widely publicized in the west as its appearance
in finland in the mid 80 gave westerners a glimpse into the latest soviet threat aircraft which was
known until then only via grainy satellite images of the soviet's jewkowski test center at reimskoy
these new soviet aircraft were ominously known as the ram series of jets after their base there
the mate 29 was clearly different from earlier made the making in garage design bureau designed
an aircraft for maximum maneuverability rather than maximum speed like the mig-25
this ultra-maneuverable design was achieved with standard hydraulic flight controls
with a manual override system which enabled a fulcrum pilot to override
their flight control system limits in an emergency
thus the mate 29 was capable of amazing maneuvers which wowed airshow crowds around the world
ein also had the world's first helmet mounted siding system to achieve widespread operational
use the usn briefly tested and deployed such in the 70s for its f4n and a south african system
influenced the soviets to do same these helmet mounted sights were nowhere near as
sophisticated as the current jhmcs helmet mounted displays instead they consisted of a simple
monocle which allowed mig-29 pilots to lock their r-73 head seekers onto any target they
looked at within the gimbal limits of the missile seeker head this capability
was known as the schlem and schlem calls would be regularly heard in nato exercises
as mig-29 pilots called off-eater shotsway out of normal nato heat seeking missile envelopes
a four-side capability coupled with high maneuverability certainly made the mid-29
a threat aircraft this same capability existed with its larger and aerodynamically similar
sukhoi counterpart the sukhoi su-27 the mate 29 was designed to be a front-line dog fighter
and the low end of the high low mix of su-27s and mig-29s with only a six missile armament and only
two out of four being radar-guided the fulcrum was seen as a close-in f-16 like dog fighter
while the flanker with its armament of up to 12 missiles was the long-range heavily
armed flying surface to air missile sight designed to be the soviet analog to the f-15
the mate 29 wasn't a perfect aircraft as any it was the result of a series of design compromises
its engines suffered from lower soviet tech levels
and their initial time between overhaul interval was in the neighborhood of 200 hours
soviet maintenance philosophy called for standard intervals of depot level maintenance over halls
with minimal frontline servicing required range and endurance were short with two fuel
hungry turbofans limiting such to under an hour soviet air defense doctrine also
hampered effectiveness as the soviet air defense philosophy called for a strict ground control
rather than individual pilot initiative aircraft were vectored onto target from the ground
mig-29 flight manual reflects this philosophy rather than listing flight enveloping procedures
much like the u.s air force if the soviets didn't give permission an activity was
expressly forbidden western aviators tend to operate with far more day-to-day latitude
and u.s naval aviators have long followed a distinct philosophy that if it isn't prohibited
it is permitted during the first cold war the joke was teach ivan some initiative
and next thing you know will be flying his fox back to japan still the fulcrum has
proven to be a durable long-living fighter aircraft and is still produced to this day
by a host of warsaw pact air forces various middle east and african nations
and non-aligned india the mig-29 saw nato service after the unified german luftwaffe adapted the
type in a mixed formation with their amraam capable f4fs the mate 29 was in wide demand
as an adversary aircraft and as such nato gained useful knowledge of its capabilities
over iraq and former yugoslavia the mate 29 was incapable of doing much more than
being shot down by vastly superior numbers of u.s and nato aircraft
rise over ukraine today the mate 29 have proven more survivable despite the losses taken
and thanks to its unique capability to operate from primitive facilities it can use even grass
runways the ukrainian air force dispersed at fulcrum fleet in minor fields in the west
and south of the country the night before the russian aggression
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