Western weapons used by Ukrainian MiG-29 fighters against the Russians

@DefAviation ES 9·03·2024 · 21:01 0

Since its creation in 1991, the Ukrainian Air Force has had the Soviet MiG-29 as one of its main fighter aircraft.

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According to Jowi Morales, in 2022, at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force had 43 MiG-29 fighters, 26 Su-27 fighters, 12 Su-24 attack aircraft, and 17 Su-25 attack aircraft, for a total of 98 fighter aircraft. After the invasion began, Ukraine received 27 MiG-29s from Poland (the most modernized) and Slovakia.

Currently, the Ukrainian Air Force would have 47 MiG-29s in active service, being its main fighter aircraft, waiting to receive all of the 129 F-16s that have been donated by the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Denmark and Norway. Both the MiG-29 and the F-16 are fourth-generation fighters. The Soviet aircraft entered service a few years after the American one, but has aged worse, currently becoming obsolete while the F-16 continues to be modernized and remains in production.

Although the MiG-29 is faster than the F-16, the latter wins hands down in range and weapons loadout, and the American fighter has more modern avionics and a much more advanced arsenal. However, Ukraine’s Western partners have helped modernize its MiG-29s, enabling it to use more modern weaponry, which has already been in use for some time by the Ukrainian Air Force in its defense against Russian invaders. A few days ago, the Ukrainian Air Force published two videos showing this armament on its MiG-29s:

You can see here some screenshots from these videos with some details about the weapons we see in them.

A gunner loading a GBU-62 JDAM-ER bomb onto the inner underwing stalk of the starboard wing of a Ukrainian MiG-29.

Another image of the same bomb, showing its front and the conversion kit (in grey) that transforms the GBU-62 bomb into a GPS-guided gliding bomb.

Another GBU-62 JDAM-ER bomb, this time being loaded into the port wing’s inner underwing cradle. In this image we can see the bomb’s folded wings on its underside. These wings deploy when the bomb is released. The JDAM-ER is an extended range conversion kit, so these bombs are released and steer toward their target while the launching aircraft changes course. This is what is called a “fire and forget” type bomb.

This image shows the precision of the GBU-62 JDAM-ER, hitting a bridge over the Seym River, in the Kursk region of Russia. These precision attacks have served to cut off the arrival routes of Russian reinforcements.

In the second video we see this image of an AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile. As you may recall, two years ago we already saw images here of the launch of these missiles by Ukrainian MiG-29s. This is a type of missile first used in the Gulf War in 1991. It is used to destroy air defense radars. It has a range of 150 km and can reach a speed of 2,280 km/h, and carries a 66 kg warhead of a fragmentation explosive. This may explain the almost complete absence of the Russian Air Force in the Kursk region during the Ukrainian offensive.

Of course, Ukrainian MiG-29s don’t just use Western weapons. Here we see a two-seat MiG-29 armed with four Vympel R-73 short-range air-to-air missiles. This is a Soviet-made, infrared-guided weapon that entered service in 1984. In addition to being used as an air-to-air missile, Ukraine has modified Soviet SA-8 launchers to use R-73s as surface-to-air missiles.

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Main photo: Armyinform.