MiG-29 Avionics

[ZIGGY-2014]

Thank you I was truly not aware that the MiG-29AS radar had been upgraded to such specification.

I believe it’s reasonable to think the “S” could be for Slovakia.

Yes, but It is only reasonable if one does not take the time to truly understand the history & design of the aircraft as a whole.

As the Ukrainians have correctly reported, the MiG-29s that were handed over by the Russian Federation to clean up debt coming out of the total economic collapse of the Soviet Union. This means the that the MiG-29S were not originally produced as specific export but to the Soviet/Russian Federation standard that was pulled from Russian Air Force inventory. Therefore, S will not represent the country of Slovakia.

The Russian Federation had promised MiG-29S which were the 9-12S & 9-13S. They were the most advanced MiG-29 at the time (just as the Ukrainians correctly point out) & last fighters ever produced by the Soviet Union.

However, Russian Federation Export law will not allow the transfer of the N019M Topaz with full domestic capabilities. The Mig-29 in batch 2 that were approved for Slovakian transfer, which were 9-12S base models would be handed over without the Topaz and instead Rubin until the export approved N019ME can be serial produced and provided.

This is why they were initially referred/reported as Mig-29A by the Slovaks (Topaz is the principal upgrade). However, they were not truly 9-12A either, since they still had all the hallmarks & lesser upgrades of 9-12S such as the additional drop tank capability, as this Polish open-source reports, a dedicated site to cataloguing historical paint schemes of the MiG-29 of both domestic & export use.

"Second batch of MiGs are from Russian air force inventory as debts payment. It's not version 9-12A!"

Colours of the MiG-29. Mikoyan & Gurevich MiG-29 camouflage and painting schemes. European countries, Russia, Asia. MiG-29, MiG-29UB, MiG-29SMT, MiG-29K/KUB, MiG-35

I agree, those are modifications that belong to product index 9-12S. That also means that these special "9-12A" had come with the SOS-3M-3 limiter giving it an increase from 26° degrees of instantaneous angle of attack to 28° degrees, like that which was also implemented in the 9-13S, as well as the SD, SM, SMT, SMT-2 etc.


Note how they also report the MiG-29A in question had come from Russian Air Force inventory as well not from MiG-MAPO.

When the Russian Federation did carry out the upgrade to the Topaz in the early 2000s alongside the Letecké Opravovne Trenčín A.S (Translated: Trenčín Aircraft Repair A.S) the S was added to the designation to signify upgrade completion & reflect the capability to the S standard provided by the renamed MiG RSK of the Russian Federation.

Lastly, to avoid any potential misinterpretation, A.S in the Slovakian company Letecké Opravovne Trenčín A.S, is akciová spoločnosť. Which simply means Joint-stock company.

The MiG 29AS does not laughably mean MiG-29 Joint Stock company.

Almost everywhere online refers only to NATO and cockpit upgrades, and even after your informed me I cannot find any other authoritative sources besides the one you mention mentioning the radar.

NATO integration as a capability is predominately highlighted because it involves the most important topic that remains a top story in the global news cycle as it will determine the entire fate and destiny of the Ukrainian people as we know it: Ukraine's potential membership in the NATO alliance.

You likely just heard of the MiG-29AS existence because you only ever mention in its transfer to Ukraine and the first sources on any search engines are news reports regarding it.

Now the reason the R-27ER & the N019M Topaz are not mentioned these days or in what you are able to find is simple, the capabilities are irrelevant & they are not worth mentioning.

The R-27ER & the N019M Topaz (both products of the Soviet Union) are now operationally obsolete in modern aerial combat & this war has proven it. The R-27ET however, still remains highly combat effective for the foreseeable future. Especially as advancements in passive IR/UV optical sensors continue to improve at an alarming rate. Ukraine has stopped any boasting of their own domestically produced R-27ER and rather highlights it now as the very reason they need the F-16 and the Aim-120. SARH missiles are obsolete. There is no reason to mention them. No amount of R-27R & ER will give Ukraine peer to peer parity with the Russian Federation's advanced passive & active capabilities in the domain of combat aviation.

I am sorry but in your attached pictures I still do not see anything that convinces me the N-019 does not use what could be called a gimbal.

The attached pictures were not intended to convince you of anything. They are provided to show others that the actual Cambridge, Meriam Webster, Collins definitions of the word "gimbal" vs the definition you claim to operate under are not remotely related. That using names as certification, not their real definitions to co-sign for a flawed logic is not acceptable.

from Cambridge to Merriam Webster, to Collins and even howstuffworks.com all show that gimbal is a versatile word to describe something on a pivot. Something that rotates on an axis for any purpose or reason driven by any force.

Without acknowledgment that the very foundation of what you know about these radars may be flawed. You only limit yourself from understanding the aircraft you claim to love & the ability to identify the technologies within. This principle applies to all things btw.

This horse is dead. Please move on from it.