Azerbaijan shows MIG-29 fighter jets

MIG-29 fighter aircrafts (by NATO classification Fulcrum) and helicopters made air-show on Tagiyev base, APA reports.

MIG-29 fighters were made in Ukraine. MiG-29 export customers have included most of post-Soviet countries and some NATO members.

Developed in late 1960s, the MIGs entered service in 1983 and remains in use by the Russian Air Forces as well as in many other nations.

In the West, the new fighter was then given the NATO reporting name "Fulcrum".

The MiG-29 has two widely spaced Klimov RD-33 turbofan engines, each rated at 50.0 kN dry and 81.3 kN in afterburner. The space between the engines generates lift, thereby reducing effective wing leading, to improve maneuverability. The engines are fed through wedge-type intakes fitted under the LERXs, which have variable ramps to allow high-Mach speeds (2,445 km/h (1,518 mph).

Armament for the MiG-29 includes a single GSh 30-1 30 mm cannon in the port wing root. This originally had a 150-round magazine. The inboard pylons can carry either a 1,150 liter fuel tank, one R-27 medium-range air-to-air missile, or unguided bombs or rockets, the outer pylons usually carry R-73 dogfight missiles, although some users still retain the older R-60.

The MiG-29 first saw action in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war, where unguided bombs and rockets were used to devastating effect. During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, a Soviet MiG-29 shot down an Afghan SU-20 Fitter.

During military operations in Yugoslavia MIG-29 shot down USA-made "invisible" stealth aircraft in ground-attack missions.