December 23,2008:
Russia is selling Lebanon ten MiG-29 fighters, at a "large
discount" (each fighter will cost the Lebanese less than $5 million). This
sale is not as big a favor to the Lebanese as it might appear. Two months ago,
all Russian MiG-29s were grounded until it could be determined if some recent
crashes, and other problems, were the
result of some fundamental design flaw. There have been several problems with
MiG-29s lately, although all aircraft have been returned to flight status. This
has not helped sales, as most export customers prefer the larger Su-27 (and its
derivatives like the Su-30).
The MiG-29
entered Russian service in 1983, as the answer to the American F-16. Some 1,600
MiG-29s have been produced so far, with most (about 900) exported. The biggest customer, India,
received its first MiG-29s in 1986, with deliveries continuing into the 1990s.
The 22 ton
aircraft is, indeed, roughly comparable to the F-16, but it depends a lot on
which version of either aircraft you are talking about. Russia is making a lot
of money upgrading MiG-29s. Not just adding new electronics, but also making
the airframe more robust. The MiG-29 was originally rated at 2,500 total flight
hours. At that time (early 80s), Russia expected MiG-29s to fly about a hundred
or so hours a year. India flew them at nearly twice that rate, and now Russia
is offering to spiff up the airframe so that the aircraft can fly up to 4,000
hours, with more life extensions upgrades promised. This won't be easy, as the
MiG-29 has a history of unreliability and premature breakdowns (both mechanical
and electronic). This is the main reason for grounding all of them after the
recent crash.
Compared to
Western aircraft, like the F-16, the MiG-29 is available for action about two
thirds as often. While extending the life of the MiG-29 into the 2030s is
theoretically possible, actually doing so will be real breakthrough in Russian
aircraft capabilities. Thus the anxiety over the reliability problems. The
Lebanese know all this, but their air force has no jet fighters at all, so ten
MiG-29s is a major improvement.
