1:72 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29B Fulcrum/Baaz, No. 47 Sqn "Black Archers", IAF, #KB715,Adampur AFS, 2010 (Hobbymaster)
Had been waiting for this model for more than a year now and the wait was well worth it!!! It looks so beautiful.
Designed to help the Soviet Union attain air superiority, the highly secretive MiG-29 was first flown on October 6th, 1977. The MiG-29 (NATO reporting name "Fulcrum") has a high-mounted bubble canopy and two powerful but very smokey RD-33 jet engines with diagonal-shaped air intakes and large exhausts. Its tapered, swept-back wings and boom-mounted tail fins give it its classic look. Armed with medium and short-range missiles and unguided weapons for ground and sea-surface targets, the MiG-29's sight is a helmet-mounted system-the pilot chooses his targets by looking at them.
The MiG-29B Fulcrum-A (izdeliye 9.12B) was the export and downgraded export version of the Soviet MiG-29A for friendly, non-Warsaw Pact nations like India, Syria Iraq, Hungary and a few other countries . It lacked a nuclear weapon delivery system and possessed downgraded radar, ECM and IFF.
The MiG-29, like the F-16, was initially meant to be an air to air fighter with very limited ground attack capabilities. Just like the F-16, later MiG-29 variants started getting multi-role capability.
The MiG-29 is very agile. It lacked the advanced fly-by-wire (FBW) flight controls of its Western counterparts, which meant it placed a premium on pilot skill. Flight controls had "soft limits", allowing the pilot to exceed recommendations if needed. However, the MiG-29 was not an unfriendly machine either, giving plenty of warning before departing controlled flight. It also did not spin easily, and a spin could almost always be easily corrected by neutralizing the controls. The MiG-29 had good handling at low speeds, and remained controllable at very high angles of attack. The MiG-29 was regarded as more agile than its Western counterpart - the F-16A, and was a particularly dangerous adversary in a low-speed turning fight. Its biggest limitation was poor range, sometimes being described as a "fighter for use over the airfield beacon". Its engines smoked so much that the Malaysians aptly called their MiG-29 demo team as the "Smokey Bandits"
Thanks to the MiG-29's favourable thrust to weight ratio being greater than 1, it can climb vertically and accelerate in the process almost like a rocket!!!!
The IAF and the MiG-29
India approached the Soviet government in the early 1980s, requesting for the delivery of latest MiG-29s. This was to counter the PAF acquisition of F-16s but The MiG-29 was not available for export that time. The Indian govt of the time ordered Mirage 2000s as a counter to the F-16s.
The F-16s started getting delivered to the PAF from 1983 onwards. As a kneejerk reaction and probably out of panic, MiG-23MFs were ordered, which were delivered quickly by the Soviet Union. Two new IAF squadrons - No. 223 "Tridents" & No. 224 "Warlords" were raised on the MiG-23MF, which gave the IAF "supposed" BVR capability for the first time (R-23R/T Apex missiles carried on the MiG-23MF). It became quickly clear that the MiG-23MF was overhyped by the Soviets and was not an answer that IAF was looking for to counter PAF F-16s (much like how the Soviets hyped the MiG-23 to the Iraqis as the answer to Iranian F-14s)
Then Indian AF Chief of the time, ACM Idris Latif had famously remarked that PAF F-16 acquisition would be a game changer in the sub-continent - "The IAF would require 40 sorties to do what the F-16s could do in four. To ignore a major threat like that would a be a major dereliction of duty".
The first Mirage 2000s started getting delivered to the IAF in 1985(there was an option of license production by HAL).
In 1984 or 85, the Soviet Minister of Defence visited India and he agreed that the Soviet Union would supply India with 44 MiG-29s/ License production was also discussed as MiG-21s and MiG-27s were being manufactured in India. The IAF became the first MiG-29 operator outside the Soviet Union. 60+ MiG-29s were acquired which were delivered in the form of SKD kits for assembly at HAL Nashik in 1986. The MiG-29s which were inducted in the IAF 1987 first with No. 47 Sqdn "Black Archers" and then with No. 28 Sqdn "First Supersonics" at Lohegaon AFS in Pune and were known locally as the
Baaz. Both No. 28 & No. 47 Sqdns were formerly MiG-21FL squadrons that did exceptionally well in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. No.47 Sqdn even had a confirmed PAF F-104 kill in the 1971 war while No. 28 Sqdn was well known for its exploits in East Pakistan. The future Air Chief - Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha was one of the pioneering MiG-29s pilots sent to the Soviet Union to train on the MiG-29.
In 1989, a third IAF MiG-29 sqdn became operational - No. 223 "Tridents"(converted from the MiG-23MF after just six years on the type) at Adampur AFS. In the mid-1990s, an additional batch of MiG-29s was acquired from Russia that were supposed to be more "capable" than the original MiG-29s delivered by the Soviet Union and that these were capable of firing the R-77(rumors which were later proven to be false).
The IAF's MiG-29 experience in the early to mid-90s was bitter(poor spare parts supply, troublesome maintenance). Things improved later and the IAF MiG-29s played a stellar role in the Kargil War flying CAP and Escort missions for IAF reconnaissance & strike aircraft. PAF F-16s at the time lacked BVR capability and it proved to be a major handicap for them as IAF MiG-29s and Mirage 2000s repeatedly obtained missile locks on them flying close to the LoC. The PAF never crossed the LoC and the rules of engagement prevented IAF jets from taking the PAF F-16s down.
With the arrival of Su-30s in Pune, the MiG-29 squadrons (Nos. 28, 47) moved out of Pune. No. 47 went to Adampur and No. 28 Sqdn went to Jamnagar. All three MiG-29 squadrons currently fly the MiG-29s in its upgraded avatar - the highly capable and multi-role MiG-29UPG.
MiG-29B General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 17.32 m (56 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 11.36 m (37 ft 3 in)
Height: 4.73 m (15 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 38 m2 (410 sq ft)
Empty weight: 11,000 kg (24,251 lb)
Gross weight: 14,900 kg (32,849 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 18,000 kg (39,683 lb)
Fuel capacity: 3,500 kg (7,716 lb) internal
Powerplant: 2 × Klimov RD-33 afterburning turbofan engines, 49.42 kN (11,110 lbf) thrust each dry, 81.58 kN (18,340 lbf) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed: 2,400 km/h (1,500 mph, 1,300 kn) at high altitude
Maximum speed: Mach 2.25
Range: 1,430 km (890 mi, 770 nmi) with maximum internal fuel
Ferry range: 2,100 km (1,300 mi, 1,100 nmi) with 1 x drop tank
Service ceiling: 18,000 m (59,000 ft)
G limits: +9
Rate of climb: 330 m/s (65,000 ft/min)
Wing loading: 403 kg/m2 (83 lb/sq ft)
Thrust/weight Ratio: 1.09
Armament
Guns: 1 × 30 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 autocannon with 150 rounds
Hardpoints: 7 × hardpoints (6 × underwing, 1 × fuselage) with a capacity of up to 4,000 kg (8,800 lb) of stores, with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: S-5, S-8, S-24
Missiles:
2 × R-27R/ER/T/ET/P air-to-air missiles
4 × R-60 AAMs
4 × R-73 AAMs
Bombs: 6 × 665 kg (1,466 lb) bombs
Avionics
OEPS-29 IRST
Phazotron N019 radar
SPO-15 'Beryoza' RWR
The Model
This was Hobbymaster's first ever Indian Air Force model and they got most details right on the model. Apart from the fabulous shape and detailing on the model, they even got the font of the aircraft serial number (KB715) on the tail fin spot on. They have given two types of antennas to be mounted on the spine (just behind the cockpit) - a long one and a short one. It comes with standard MiG-29 air to air loadout- 4 X R-73s, 2 X R-27Rs & 1 X centerline MiG-29 drop tank.
With its virtual world counterpart (DCS)
Airborne
MiG-29B KB715
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