FARS news agency reported on an effort by Iran to overhaul and upgrades it’s tactical MiG29 fighter jets. Which the article says is necessary to maintain combat readiness in the face of a probable "pre-emptive U.S. military strike" against both civilians and military targets.
The MiG-29 (Russian: МиГ-29), NATO reporting name: "Fulcrum" is a fourth-generation advanced jet fighter aircraft designed for an air combat superiority role
The MiG-29 was developed to counter new American fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
"For the first time in the country, we received the permission for overhauling two Mig-29 fighter jets in Tabriz (air base) and the five-stage overhauling procedures were carried out in two phases in Tabriz," Commander of Tabriz Air Base Mohammad Hellatabadi said in a ceremony in Iran's Northwestern city of Tabriz in February 2011.
Iran has anywhere from 85-95 MiG-29s in inventory as of January 2011, depending, of course, upon who you ask.
Iran took over 4 ex-Iraqi aircraft, flown over in 1991 ahead of a U.S. invasion of Iraq, the rest were bought some from Russia during the 1990s at a cost of around $11 million dollars a piece.
At least one Mig-29 fighter jet of the Iranian Army conducted its test flight successfully on Saturday, August 4, 2012 after being overhauled by local experts.
The Iranian experts spent a total of 24 months to overhaul the MiG 29 fighter jet and mounted “three types of modern electronic systems onto the aircraft in a bid to increase its technical and backup capabilities”, according to the report, published today.
Most of these planes have also been upgraded by adding an “in-flight refuelling nozzle making them compatible with the drogue refuellers operated by the IRIAF”,
The MiG 29 are powered by 2 Klimov RD-33 afterburning turbofan engines, that can achieve a maximum speed of Mach 2.25 or 1,490 mph.
Armament includes 1X30 mm GSh-30-1 cannon with 150 rounds and can carry 7, 720 pounds of weapons including six air to air missiles – a mix of semi active radar homing (SARH) and AA-8 “Aphid”, AA-10 “Alamo”, AA-11 “Archer”, AA-12 “Adder”, FAB 500-M62, FAB-1000, TN 100, EMC Pods, S-24, AS-12, AS-14…
Avionics include the Phazotron N019, N010 radar systems.
It should be noted that the MiG 29’s, despite their age are very capable combat aircraft that would pose a serious threat to U.S. bombers, fighter jets and UAV’s (“unmanned aerial vehicles”) invading Iranian airspace.
With repect to UAV’s we discovered rare video aerial combat footage of a Russian MiG shooting down a UAV in Georgia. See video: MiG-29 Shoots down Georgian UAV.
The FAS news article also mentions that Iran has recently made “good progress in the air industry and has succeeded in gaining the technical know-how for producing stealth aircraft and drones.”
Asian Defence News
The MiG-29 (Russian: МиГ-29), NATO reporting name: "Fulcrum" is a fourth-generation advanced jet fighter aircraft designed for an air combat superiority role
The MiG-29 was developed to counter new American fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
"For the first time in the country, we received the permission for overhauling two Mig-29 fighter jets in Tabriz (air base) and the five-stage overhauling procedures were carried out in two phases in Tabriz," Commander of Tabriz Air Base Mohammad Hellatabadi said in a ceremony in Iran's Northwestern city of Tabriz in February 2011.
Iran has anywhere from 85-95 MiG-29s in inventory as of January 2011, depending, of course, upon who you ask.
Iran took over 4 ex-Iraqi aircraft, flown over in 1991 ahead of a U.S. invasion of Iraq, the rest were bought some from Russia during the 1990s at a cost of around $11 million dollars a piece.
At least one Mig-29 fighter jet of the Iranian Army conducted its test flight successfully on Saturday, August 4, 2012 after being overhauled by local experts.
The Iranian experts spent a total of 24 months to overhaul the MiG 29 fighter jet and mounted “three types of modern electronic systems onto the aircraft in a bid to increase its technical and backup capabilities”, according to the report, published today.
Most of these planes have also been upgraded by adding an “in-flight refuelling nozzle making them compatible with the drogue refuellers operated by the IRIAF”,
The MiG 29 are powered by 2 Klimov RD-33 afterburning turbofan engines, that can achieve a maximum speed of Mach 2.25 or 1,490 mph.
Armament includes 1X30 mm GSh-30-1 cannon with 150 rounds and can carry 7, 720 pounds of weapons including six air to air missiles – a mix of semi active radar homing (SARH) and AA-8 “Aphid”, AA-10 “Alamo”, AA-11 “Archer”, AA-12 “Adder”, FAB 500-M62, FAB-1000, TN 100, EMC Pods, S-24, AS-12, AS-14…
Avionics include the Phazotron N019, N010 radar systems.
It should be noted that the MiG 29’s, despite their age are very capable combat aircraft that would pose a serious threat to U.S. bombers, fighter jets and UAV’s (“unmanned aerial vehicles”) invading Iranian airspace.
With repect to UAV’s we discovered rare video aerial combat footage of a Russian MiG shooting down a UAV in Georgia. See video: MiG-29 Shoots down Georgian UAV.
The FAS news article also mentions that Iran has recently made “good progress in the air industry and has succeeded in gaining the technical know-how for producing stealth aircraft and drones.”
Asian Defence News
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