MiG-29A Fulcrum
The fighter whose helmet sight and R-73 missile made Western pilots redesign their own tactics.
- Helmet-mounted sight
- R-73 missile
- Debris intake doors
- Short range
Specification
- Origin
- Russia
- Manufacturer
- Mikoyan
- Role
- Air superiority
- Generation
- 4
- Introduced
- 1983
- Combat type
- Air
- Spawn code
- mig29a
On the server
The MiG-29 entered Soviet service in 1983 as a front line fighter meant to work from damaged or unpaved strips, which is why its main intakes close on takeoff and air is drawn through louvres on top of the wing roots instead. When German MiG-29s joined NATO exercises after reunification, the combination of a helmet mounted sight and the R-73 missile turned out to allow off boresight shots that Western fighters of the day could not answer, and it directly influenced the missiles that followed. On MCS the Fulcrum is a short range specialist. Inside visual range it points and shoots at angles most opponents cannot match, and it turns hard. Its problem is fuel: the internal load is small and sorties are short, so long transits leave you empty at the worst moment. Recommended for defensive play close to your own base.