lvc@cbnews.ATT.COM (Lawrence V. Cipriani) (06/01/89)
From: lvc@cbnews.ATT.COM (Lawrence V. Cipriani) A Mig-29 was flown to Turkey by a Soviet pilot seeking asylum. This was one of the Soviets domestic planes, not a stripped down export model. The US asked the Turkish gov't to let them inspect the plane but they refused. They looked over the plane themselves and sent it back home. Questions: a) What if anything has been found out about the plane? Or is no one talking about it. b) What role does the Mig-29 have? I recall the Mig-25 flown into Japan a few years ago is an air defense interceptor. c) What happened to the pilot? The Soviets accused him of assorted crimes and demanded he be sent back to stand trial [a fair one I'm sure - ha]. -- Larry Cipriani, att!cbnews!lvc or lvc@cbnews.att.com
dlj@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (david.l.jacobowitz) (06/02/89)
From: dlj@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (david.l.jacobowitz) In article <7022@cbnews.ATT.COM>, lvc@cbnews.ATT.COM (Lawrence V. Cipriani) writes: > A Mig-29 was flown to Turkey by a Soviet pilot seeking asylum. This was > one of the Soviets domestic planes, not a stripped down export model. The > US asked the Turkish gov't to let them inspect the plane but they refused. > They looked over the plane themselves and sent it back home. > > Questions: > b) What role does the Mig-29 have? I recall the Mig-25 flown into Japan > a few years ago is an air defense interceptor. > c) What happened to the pilot? The Soviets accused him of assorted crimes > and demanded he be sent back to stand trial [a fair one I'm sure - ha]. The Mig-29 is the Soviet's latest and greatest air superiority fighter. It was designed to outfight F-16s and F-15s. It has a thrust-to-weight > 1, meaning it can accelerate in a vertical climb. It is about the same size as an F-18, but faster and more maneuverable (wing loading is less than that of an F-18). It is not fly-by-wire. It probably has look-down shoot-down doppler radar (also supposedly installed on Su-27 Flankers and Mig-31 Foxhounds). It has a fairly short range on internal fuel. You can bet that the U.S. would love to look one over. An interesting aside is that the Mig-29 was designed to operate from unpaved airstrips: it has auxialiary air intakes on top of the plane, and the primary air intakes on the bottom of the plane have mesh covers (or close completely, I forget which) to prevent foreign object damage. Supposedly this is to appeal to third world buyers. I don't recall hearing what happened to the Soviet pilot. --------------------------------------------------------- Dave J. usual disclaimer implied
tek@CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim (ATW)) (06/02/89)
From: tek@CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim (ATW)) In article <7022@cbnews.ATT.COM> lvc@cbnews.ATT.COM (Lawrence V. Cipriani) writes: > ... >b) What role does the Mig-29 have? I recall the Mig-25 flown into Japan > a few years ago is an air defense interceptor. > ... Here is a general look at the current Soviet tactical aircraft inventory. Aircraft are designed to fill certain roles. With the Soviets, it seems particularly true. For many models, there seem to be an amazing number of specialized variants of the main design. Lately though, the Soviets are starting to produce true multirole aircraft capable of performing different missions without modification (though using different weapon and equipment loads). Below I list the designation, NATO codename, first year of operational deployment and some comments. (The deployment year might be slightly off.) I only list the "main" model. Most models have a whole bunch of variants, appending various combinations of Soviet abbreviations to the designation, such as F, P, ISh, MF, S, MS, PFM, BN, etc. MiG-21 Fishbed (1959) fighter The only ones in the inventory now are much improved "bis" models from the late 1970s. Even these are being retired now. This plane is a "general" fighter with good maneuverability for dogfighting, but limited range and load. Its radar and avionics are primitive by today's standards, and it can only carry the older AAMs. SU-15 Flagon (1969) interceptor The only ones around are improved models from the mid 1970s. It is slowly being replaced. This plane is a long range interceptor, designed for long range and fighting primarily with missiles. Its maneuverability is not very good and hence is not a very good dogfighter. It has a limited load and not very good radar and avionics. It can carry only the older AAMs. MiG-23 Flogger (1971) fighter This is the backbone of the "general" fighter force at least in terms of numbers anyway. Its range and load are limited. It uses a swing wing design giving some good performance characteristics, but the design has structural weaknesses, which make it only mediocre for dogfighting. However, it has much improved (over the MiG-21) avionics and radar and can carry more modern Soviet AAMs. Nevertheless, by today's standards this stuff is a bit old. MiG-25 Foxbat (1971) fast, high-altitude interceptor The plane was designed for high altitude, long range, high speed interception. It has long range radar (maybe primitive look down/shoot down capability) and long range missiles. It is poor for dogfighting. Its technology is in the MiG-23 ballpark (though it was the best they had when introduced). It has no ground attack capability. The recon version is also well known. MiG-27 Flogger (1977) ground attack The MiG-23 reworked for ground attack. It is a "general" ground attack aircraft that can do the close air support and moderate range strikes. SU-17 Fitter (1978) deep strike (SU-22 Fitter is the export version.) This plane is a longer range, larger load ground attack aircraft. It was not really designed to for close air support, but more for deep strikes behind the enemy lines. Ground attack radar and avionics are somewhat dated. Some Soviet clients have tried to use it as a long range interceptor (since they did not have a proper plane of that type). Its air to air performance is poor. Its dogfighting ability is very poor. It has no air to air radar capability. SU-24 Fencer (1981) deep strike Much more capable deep strike aircraft. Large load, long range and more modern radar and avionics. It has has terrain following radar and has all-weather capability. It might even have a reasonable air to air self defense capability. MiG-31 Foxhound (1983) fast, high-altitude interceptor Rework the MiG-25 again with the latest technology and you get this. The radar and avionics are much better. It carries the latest in the Soviet long-range AAMs. SU-25 Frogfoot (1984) close air support This aircraft is a dedicated close air support aircraft. It carries a pretty big load, has some armor protection, but is short ranged. MiG-29 Fulcrum (1985) multirole fighter The best the Soviets have in "general" fighters. Good maneuverability, big load, big engines, good radar (which has look down/shoot down capability), good avionics, and carries the latest in Soviet AAMs. It is a multirole aircraft also capable of reasonable ground attack. SU-27 Flanker (1987) multirole interceptor The best the Soviets have in interceptors. Long range plus almost all of the good characteristics that the MiG-29 has. Ted Kim ARPAnet: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu UCLA Computer Science Department UUCP: ...!ucbvax!cs.ucla.edu!tek 3804C Boelter Hall PHONE: (213) 206-8696 Los Angeles, CA 90024 ESPnet: tek@ouija.board