Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military
From: dlj@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (david.l.jacobowitz)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Mig-29 lands in Turkey
Summary: the plane
Keywords: military intelligence
Message-ID: <7060@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 2 Jun 89 02:35:48 GMT
References: <7022@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 37
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: dlj@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (david.l.jacobowitz)

In article <7022@cbnews.ATT.COM>, lvc@cbnews.ATT.COM (Lawrence V. Cipriani) writes:
> A Mig-29 was flown to Turkey by a Soviet pilot seeking asylum.  This was
> one of the Soviets domestic planes, not a stripped down export model.  The
> US asked the Turkish gov't to let them inspect the plane but they refused.
> They looked over the plane themselves and sent it back home.
> 
> Questions:
> b) What role does the Mig-29 have?  I recall the Mig-25 flown into Japan
>    a few years ago is an air defense interceptor.
> c) What happened to the pilot?  The Soviets accused him of assorted crimes
>    and demanded he be sent back to stand trial [a fair one I'm sure - ha].

The Mig-29 is the Soviet's latest and greatest air superiority
fighter.  It was designed to outfight F-16s and F-15s.
It has a thrust-to-weight > 1, meaning it can accelerate in a
vertical climb.  It is about the same size as an F-18, but
faster and more maneuverable  (wing loading is less than
that of an F-18).  It is not fly-by-wire.
It probably has look-down shoot-down doppler radar (also supposedly
installed on Su-27 Flankers and Mig-31 Foxhounds).
It has a fairly short range on internal fuel.
You can bet that the U.S. would love to look one over.

An interesting aside is that the Mig-29 was designed to operate from
unpaved airstrips:  it has auxialiary air intakes on top of the plane,
and the primary air intakes on the bottom of the plane have mesh covers
(or close completely, I forget which) to prevent foreign object damage.
Supposedly this is to appeal to third world buyers.

I don't recall hearing what happened to the Soviet pilot.
---------------------------------------------------------
Dave J.
usual disclaimer implied