The Soviet MiG-29 is a fighter jet just as iconic as the American F-15 and F-16 it was designed to combat, and there are still hundreds in use today.
When the Soviet Union needed a fourth-generation fighter jet to counter the firepower of America’s F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon in the early ’70s, it looked to the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau. With all the data the Bureau had on these American fighters, it set out to create the MiG-29. The Bureau got a prototype built and flying by 1977 but didn’t deliver its first jet to Frontal Aviation units until 1983, seven years after the U.S. Air Force was flying the F-15. While the MiG-29 was primarily built to counter the capability of the American fighter jets, the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau gave it a secondary ground attack purpose to improve versatility.
The MiG-29 had a few deficiencies compared to the F-15 and F-16 at first, as it lacked fly-by-wire controls, and the manufacturer hadn’t used lightweight composite materials before.
