jfb@ihlpm.att.com (Joseph F Baugher) (09/02/90)
From: jfb@ihlpm.att.com (Joseph F Baugher)
Here's the fourth in the series, the Soviet Union's MiG-29 Fulcrum!
Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum
Powerplant:
Two Tumansky RD-33 turbofans, 11,243 lb. st. dry and
18,300 lb st with afterburning.
Performance:
Maximum Speed: Mach 2.3 (1520 mph) at 36,000 ft
(four AAMs, 75% internal fuel)
Maxmum Speed: Mach 1.2 (915 mph) at sea level.
Initial climb: 64,960 ft/min.
Service ceiling: 55,755 feet.
Combat radius: 630 miles
Take off run: 1640 feet.
Wing Area:409 sq. ft.
Weights:
Empty Weight: 18,000 lb.
Normal loaded: 29,280 lb. (giving thrust/weight ratio of 1.25).
Max. takeoff weight: 39,700 lb.
Armament:
One 30-mm cannon mounted internally.
Six underwing weapons pylons.
Four AA-10 Alamo A/C radar-guided or Alamo B IR homing
medium-range missiles, plus two AA-11 Archer close-
combat IR missiles.
Electronics:
Flash Dance pulse-Doppler radar. First true "track while scan
and look-down, shoot-down" radar in USSR fighter.
Equipped with IRST (Infrared Search and Track) detector in
fairing just ahead of cockpit.
Believed also equipped with laser rangefinder.
Remarks:
Almost identical in size and configuration to F/A-18.
Traditional cockpit with electro-mechanical analog instruments.
Lacks the video screen displays typical of many modern Western
combat aircraft.
No digital fly-by-wire controls. Uses a mix of mechanical
cables and hydraulic actuators.
Engine is relatively smokeless.
Ingenious system of variable intake inlet doors to aid in
avoidance of foreign object ingestion during takeoff.
Pilot's heads-up display is comparable to early 1970s
1970s US technology.
View from cockpit is far superior to that of many other
Soviet fighters.
Large wing area gives superb maneuverability. Sustained
turning rates of 16 degrees per second at Mach 0.9 at 15,000
feet can be achieved.
Can perform "Pougachev's Cobra", a high angle of attack
maneuver. I don't think any Western fighter aircraft can
duplicate this feat. However, such a maneuver may be of
only limited use in an actual operational situation.
Short field performance and maneuverability may be superior to
that of F-16.
Electronics warfare package far superior to that installed
in previous Soviet fighters. It is probably still not
equal in sophistication to Western electronics packages.
Export variant in Iraqi hands may have downgraded electronics in
comparison to Soviet version.
In the hands of a capable pilot, the MiG-29 Fulcrum will be
a deadly opponent in any future conflict.
Sources:
Various issues of Aviation Week
Various issues of Defense Electronics
The Observer's Book of Aircraft, William Green.
The World's Great Attack Aircraft, Gallery Books
The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft, Gallery Books
Modern Air Combat, Bill Gunston, Mike Spick
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament, Bill Gunston
Joe Baugher *************************************
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ihlpm!jfb
jfb200@cbnewsd.att.com
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