MiG-29
ICAO MG29The Soviet answer to the F-16, still flown by NATO members that inherited it. Live MiG-29 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No MiG-29 is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Mikoyan
- Role
- Multirole fighter
- Class
- L2J — Landplane, 2 jet engines
- Crew
- 1, or 2 in the UB
- First flight
- 6 October 1977
- In service
- 1983
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the MiG-29
The MiG-29 was designed to counter the F-16 and F/A-18 and turned out to be extremely agile at close range, a reputation cemented when German pilots got to fly reunified East German aircraft against NATO types and reported what they found.
Its most interesting operators today are NATO members: Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia inherited Soviet-era fleets, and Poland still flies them. Those aircraft occasionally transmit in central European airspace, and Ukraine operates a substantial fleet.
Germany passed its inherited aircraft to Poland for a symbolic price. The photograph on this page is one of the German aircraft from that period.
Callsign prefixes
- PLF
- Polish Air Force
- UAF
- Ukrainian Air Force
How to recognise it
- —Two engines set wide apart with a deep tunnel between them, and twin fins.
- —Large curved wing root extensions blending into the fuselage, giving a distinctive humped profile.
- —Intakes with closable doors on top of the wing roots, for operating from rough strips.
Common questions
+ Do NATO countries fly the MiG-29?
Poland does, having inherited Soviet-era aircraft and acquired Germany's. Bulgaria and Slovakia flew them until recently. It is one of the few Soviet designs to have served inside the alliance.
+ How does the MiG-29 compare with the F-16?
It was designed as a direct counter and is exceptionally agile in a close fight, but has shorter range, older avionics in most versions, and much higher maintenance demands.
+ What are the doors on top of the wing roots?
Auxiliary intakes. The main intakes close during takeoff and landing to stop debris being ingested from rough runways, and the aircraft breathes through louvres on the upper surface instead.