In discussions about Russian Air Force fighters the most known fighter is the Mig-29 Fulcrum. This plane played a critical role in numerous conflicts all over the world. Entering service in the mid-1980’s its sleek, original design and outstanding performance made it one of the most successful Russian made fighters. Besides Russia many other countries have imported this multi-role fighter or were donated to Russia dedicated countries.
The first part of the book described the development phase and details about the different executions. The Fulcrum entered service in 1983 and the Russian Air Force received 580 Mig-29’s. Further all deliveries to the different countries are explained including Ukraine (!) that received more than 350 fighters of this type.
In the second part of the book we read about all the conflicts in which the Fulcrum was involved like in the Middle East, Africa and communist related countries that fought local wars and related stories of air battles. Interesting is also the story and background of Zuyev the Russian pilot who defected to the West with a Fulcrum and how and why KAL’s Boeing 747 was shot down. It appeared that Russia made some serious mistakes in the latter case due to unreliable radar coverage of the area in which the KAL flight was shot down.
The role of the Fulcrum in the Middle East war in which the US and their allies were the opponent gives us some exciting insight in the battles that were fought over Iraq and in which the first ever combat kill of a Fulcrum was made by a US fighter. Many colour photo’s support these stories of the aces on both sides.
Special is also is the last chapter of this book in which the present air war between Russia and Ukraine is described with heroical stories of the pilots that fought on both sides. After reading this book the Mig-29 Fulcrum has no secrets for us anymore. Thank you Mike for this very informative and actual document.
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