Nope. Out of ten ex-Czechoslovak machines only two are active today. All other currently active MiG-29AS and UBS come from later deliveries.

What has happened to the other machines?

Croatian press has stated that the overhauls carried out in Ukraine were satisfactory (the were issues with the MiG-21 overhauled in Romania). I wonder if there is collaboration between Ukraine and Russia fo refurbishment of aircraft. Those Algerian MiG-21 were supposed to be sent back to Russia, not Ukraine.

The Croat enthusiasts are denying the poor workmanship claim and instead are stating Yemen made up the story so they could cancel the MiG-21 overhaul order which became superflous once MiG-29SMT’s were delivered.

I would not be surprised if this is the case.

UAC underperforms

In recent times there have been a number of articles criticising Russian civil aerospace industry. True, they did not produce as many aircraft as intended, but it is only know that they are getting sizeable orders.Before production was sustained by completing Tu-154 components and manufacturing a very small number of aircraft.

Interesting discussion. Perhaps an advanced supersonic trainer/light combat aircraft like the Korean T-50 could be interesting to many countries.

Having said that, I remember reading that Russia was going to offer advanced MiG-29 as more affordable -lighter- fighter. True, it has 2 engines but hundreds have been sold and development was paid by USSR. It can be marketed at very competitive prices. What is the financial impact of having 2 engines nowadays?

It appears that MiG-25 pilots have been credited by the iraqi headquarters after long investigations to validate their claims with 3 kills, there’s the well known F/A-18, and another two “coalition” aircraft, but if i even mention them some folks will have a hearth attack so…

Credited by who? I am curious because it sounds as if it just hapenned.

Very interesting message Sens.

You hit the main shortcoming of that. The original specifications of the 60s for the Su-15 about range /endurance were met by the MiG-23 in the 70s.

Maybe that is one of the reasons why the MiG-23 was far more popular in former Soviet Union than client states (especially in the Middle East).

At that time-scale none had compained about its shortcomings in the open and in automated flight support for all weather operations it was much better than most Russian frontline fighters of that time-scale. Just in the 90s after its retirement from service it shortcomings were were a temporary topic. Much less to its former pilots in the memory of their best time. In the meanwhile the nationalists have started to restore the former published fame by sticking to that reminiscences and official claims.

I always thought that the Su-15 was a complement to the MiG-25 Foxbat, which was the upper-end interceptor. After Belenko defection the Flagon did not get a new radar as the Foxbat did, thus it fell behind in comparison with MiG-23/25 as the radar did not have look down shoot down capability.

I am surprised it did not meet intial requirements (maybe they were too ambitious). It’s predecessors (Su-9/11) were not exactly succesful. You would expect more conservative requirements after.

Edited: message posted in wrong thread.

The cost of modern fighter jets never ceases to impress me, and Super Hornet is supposed to be one of the most afforable Western fighter jet!