MiG-29 News

Agra MiG-29 fighter jet crash: As per the defence official, a Court of Inquiry has been ordered in the case.

The drop tank of IAF's Mig-29 was being brought to the Kalaikunda airbase in coordination with the civil administration while an investigation is underway to find out the reason.

Russia has fulfilled requirements related to India's defence equipment list handed over in the month of June. Sources confirming the development said that India’s defence requirements included light guns, projectiles, bombs.

Amid the border tension with China, India on Thursday approved the proposal for procurement of 21 MIG-29 along with upgradation of existing 59 Mig-29 aircraft from Russia and procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft from state-run aerospace from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), with focus on indigenous design and development. 

The MiG-29M is a single-seater combat aircraft and the MiG-29M2 fighter is twin-seater. MiG-35, which has several 5th Generation technologies including extremely reduced radar signature, also comes in single-seat and twin-seat versions (MiG-35D) but is still in development and testing phase.

The IAF has almost 900 combat aircraft in it inventory while the total aeroplanes in active service with the force number over 1720. The Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKIs form the backbone of IAF fighter fleet and the force flies 272 of the twin-seater, twin-engine multirole combat aircraft.

Syrian forces have started to carry out missions on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 fighters which they received from Russia a few days ago. Confirming the delivery of the MiG-29s, the Russian Embassy in Syria on Wednesday (June 3, 2020) tweeted that the second batch of the combat aircraft had joined the Arab country's military.

MiG-29, a twin-engine supersonic fighter, is already in service with Russian Aerospace Forces, Indian Air Force (IAF), Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces and Polish Air Force along with several other nations.

Over the skies of Europe, the B-1B Lancers were joined by Sukhois, MiGs and F-16s as well as Turkish Air Force's KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling aircraft. It was the first time ever that the B-1B Lancers flew with Su-27s and MiG-29s as their escort.

The skies over the neutral waters of Black and Baltic Seas saw some action on Friday (May 29, 2020) when Russian Sukhoi Su-27P and Su-30M combat aircraft intercepted the United States of Amerca Air Force B-1B Lancer strategic bombers. The Sukhoi fighters were launched after the B-1B bombers were detected by the Russian Western and Southern military districts radars.

Russian Aerospace Force has MiG-29, Su-27, Su-30 and Su-35 fighters in its arsenal and is also inducting MiG-35 and the 5th Generation Su-57 stealth fighters. While the twin-engine air superiority fighter MiG-29 is a more than 40 years old fighter, the Sukhoi jets, too, have twin-engines and are much larger aircraft, have a bigger range and more weapons payload compared to the former.

IAF 47 Squadron Black Archers and 223 Squadron Tridents, both based at Adampur in Punjab's Jalandhar, have sent their MiG-29UPG jets.

The IAF had carried out a study to check if the airframes of the MiG-29s on offer were good enough for it to operate for a long time. MiG-29s are flown by the IAF and the pilots are familiar with it but the ones offered by the Russians are different from the ones in the Indian inventory.

The Russian Aerospace Force flies the MiG-29, Su-27, Su-30 and Su-35 fighters. It is in the process of inducting MiG-35 and the 5th Generation Su-57 stealth fighters to increase the lethality of its force.

MiG-29s took part in Operation Safed Sagar during the 1999 Kargil War and were tasked with protecting the IAF assets deployed to bomb the icy heights which had been occupied by Pakistani intruders. The upgrade will make the last two MiG-29s multirole combat aircraft capable of undertaking air-to-air as well as air-to-ground operations.

IAF requires 42 squadrons to be effective during a two-front war with China and Pakistan but is currently operating with only 31 as it retires the older MiG-21 and MiG-27 aircraft. 

The India Air Force's beast - MiG-29 - has gained in strength and ferocity after an upgrade.

IAF sources said they found the performance of the HAL Tejas satisfactory.

The aircraft is also equipped with a version of the Phazotron Zhuk AESA radar that is capable of simultaneously detecting and tracking up to 30 aerial targets at up to 160 km away.

Iron Fist Exercise 2016 in Rajasthan will see the participation of 181 aircraft, 103 of them fighter planes.