MiG-29 Fulcrum Armament
Although on your flight the MiG-29 will be fully disarmed, the functional military versions of these jets carried an enormous arsenal and remain as one of the deadliest fighter jets in the skies today. The MiG-29 offers either six or eight pylons under the wings depending on the variant, plus room for an additional centre-line 1,500 litre fuel tank carried below between the two engines. As standard, the Fulcrum comes equipped with a GSh-30-1 30 mm cannon on the port wing carrying a 100-round magazine. The six or eight pylons can then be equipped with a wide range of missiles and rockets depending on the mission, including two in-board 1,150 litre fuel tanks on each side. Alternatively, these in-board pylons could be used to carry Vympel R-27 medium-range air-to-air missiles while the outer-board pylons were commonly used to carry dogfight air to air missiles.
Common rockets included the S-5, S-8 and S-24 while missiles used ranged from the R-27R, R-60 or R-73 air-to-air missiles for dogfights and air combat. Alternatively as a multi-role fighter, the MiG-29 could be used to carry 665kg bombs.
Rivals to the MiG-29 Fulcrum
Comparable aircraft, in terms of era and capability, to the MiG-29 Fulcrum include:
• General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
• McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
• Dassault Mirage 2000
• AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo
As the United States Airforce developed the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, they later deemed a requirement for a ‘lightweight fighter’, which lead to the development of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. In response, the Soviet Union developed the Sukhoi Su-27 to rival the F-15 and the MiG-29 to rival the F-16 as a lighter-weight fighter.
MiG-29 Vs F-16 size & speed
Both the MiG-29 and F-16 are still in service today and offer a wealth of similarities as well as differences. The MiG-29 is powered by two Klimov RD-33 afterburning turbofan engines, while the F-16 is powered by a single General Electric F110-GE-129 afterburning turbofan engine. The MiG is longer at 56ft compared to the F-16 at just 49ft, and has a wider wingspan at 37ft Vs the F-16 at 32ft. The MiG is also faster achieving a maximum speed of Mach 2.25 where as the F-16 is limited to Mach 2.05.
MiG-29 Vs F-16 Armaments
While the MiG-29 can carry either six or eight pylons under the wings for air-to-air missiles, rockets, bombs or additional fuel tanks, the F-16 can carry a total of nine hard points – three under each wing, one on each wing tip and one under the fuselage. The F-16 is also capable of carrying a heavier amount of stores – 7,700kg compared to the MiG’s 4,000kg as well as a much wider scope of armaments including rocket pods that can house either Hydra, CRV7 or Zuni rockets, a wide range of missiles including Sparrow, Sidewinder and Pythons, a wide range of air-to-air missiles including Maverick and HARMs, Harpoon or Penguin anti-ship missiles or a wide range of bombs.
In terms of guns, the F-16 opts for a smaller round but faster-rate of fire, carrying a 20mm M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrel rotary cannon with 511 rounds firing at 6,000 rounds per minute, compared with the MiG-29’s 30mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 autocannon.
It may seem that the F-16 out-guns the MiG-29, however the MiG still pays an important multirole fighter even today and is still well equipped even by modern standards. With no armaments a fixed to your MiG during your flight, you can expect a lighter aircraft capable of incredible manoeuvres.
MiG-29 Vs F-18 size & speed
Perhaps a closer comparison to the MiG-29 is the F-18 Hornet. Both use twin engines, both are multirole fighter and attack aircraft and both were introduced within a year of each other in the early 1980’s. The F-18 is a more comparable size at 56ft long , the same length as the MiG-29 and with a wingspan of 40ft, slightly longer than the MiG-29’s 37ft. Despite being closer in dimensions, the MiG-29 is much faster, with a top-speed of Mach 2.25 compared to the F-18’s Mach 1.8.
MiG-29 Vs F-18 armaments
Despite their similar size, the F-18 has nine hardpoints for weapons compared with the MiG-29’s six or eight, with the F-18 having space on each wingtip, four underwing and three under the fuselage. Like the F-16, the F-18 can be equipped with a wide range of weaponry, including rockets, air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles as well as additional fuel tanks.
The F-18 uses the same cannon as the F-16, the 20mm M61A1 Vulcan nose mounted 6-barrel rotary cannon, however it carries slightly more rounds at 578.
MiG-29 Variations
Being in operation since 1982, the MiG-29 has undergone many upgrades and has been adapted to various roles or requirements throughout it’s lifetime. Although too many to look into detail individually, there are around 20 different upgrades and variants of the MiG-29.
Jetify offer the MiG-29UB variant due to it’s twin-cockpit design. All fighter jets offered by Jetify are in fact twin-cockpit variations simply because most members of the general public aren’t able top fly a sophisticated fighter jet without supervision!
MiG-29UB Fulcrum-B
This is the exact model of MiG-29 you’ll be flying with a Jetify fighter jet experience, should you choose to fly a MiG. It’s a part of the original Soviet variants and acts as a twin seat training model alongside the MiG-29A that was used in service. The main differences aside from the twin seat cockpit are the MiG-29UB lacks all weaponry, has an infra-red sensor only and has no radar since it’s primary role was for training. This simplicity makes the MiG-29UB the perfect fighter jet for a civilian to experience what a supersonic jet is capable of, both as a passenger but also to take the controls and fly the plane for themselves.
Fly a MiG-29 Fulcrum
The MiG-29 is available to fly with Jetify from locations in Russia, and as one of the more modern fighter planes in the fleet, is available for ‘Edge of Space’ flight experiences, that takes you up to 20km above the earth and into the stratosphere. Unsurprisingly, the MiG-29 is one of the more sought-after jets in the Jetify roster and guarantees an exceptional flight every time. Take control of a MiG-29 Fulcrum yourself
