http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #367 OCTOBER 2018 // 35Airforces
Intelligence‘In association with ....’airforcesintel.comost of the former
Warsaw Pact air forces
operated the MiG-29
back in the 1990s, the time when
Eastern Europe was dismantling
its communist regimes.
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
East Germany, Hungary, Poland
and Romania all flew Fulcrums
in the air defence role, while,
outside the alliance, Yugoslavia
also operated the type.
The Fulcrum, long respected
by NATO because of its superb
aerodynamics, is a deadly
proposition when armed with
the Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer)
short-range air-to-air missile
(AAM). However, the basic
MiG-29 is limited by its 7,716lb
(3,500kg) fuel capacity, whichlimited flying time to 1hr 12mins.
When being used for basic
fighter manoeuvres, endurance
is considerably less. A 1,984lb
(900kg) centreline tank improves
range but at the expense of agility.
Regardless of the fighter’s
limitations and increasing
obsolescence, Bulgaria (15), Poland
(24), Slovakia (12) and Serbia (10)
still persevere with it, although
only 50% or less are likely to be
operational at any one time.
Today the NATO Fulcrums are
edging towards the end of their
careers and Slovakia announced its
decision to acquire the Lockheed
Martin F-16 Block 70 on July 12.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Poland
are now initiating competitions to
find a successor to their MiGs.Slovakia opts for F-16s
The Vzdušné sily Ozbrojených
síl Slovenskej republiky (VzS
OS SR, Air Force of the Armed
Forces of the Slovak Republic)
is set to acquire 12 F-16C Block
70s and two F-16D Block 70s
after four years looking for a new
fighter. The US design fought
off the challenge of the Saab
JAS 39C/D Gripen. According
to Lockheed, a $US2.91bn letter
of agreement (LOA) is expected
to be signed by December.
At the recent Slovak International
Air Fest (SIAF) 2018 held at Sliač
air base – where the MiG-29s are
stationed – AFM spoke to Michael
N Kelley, the company’s F-16
Campaign Lead in Slovakia. “The
Slovak F-16s will come off theproduction facility now being set
up at Greenville in South Carolina
and will be delivered 39 months
after the deal is signed [around
late 2022]. The USAF will put us
on contract around six months
after the LOA is signed, which
should be by the end of the year.”
Kelley continued: “The first two
aircraft, F-16Ds, will be handed
over in the USA and are expected
to go to Tucson ANGB, Arizona,
for pilot and maintenance training.
The first ferry cell should arrive in
Sliač during March/April 2023.”
The Block 70 includes the new
Northrop Grumman AN/APG-
83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar,
as well as upgraded displays
and avionics suite. The new-
build Block 70s will have theirM
Digital MiG: Upgraded Air Force of the Armed
Forces of the Slovak Republic MiG-29AS serial
0921 gets airborne from Sliač. Igor Bozinovski34-38 Intel AFM Oct2018.indd 35 9/10/2018 12:07:38 PM