Batajnica air base. Immediately
after arriving in Serbia, one of
the six was sent back to Russia
for general overhaul by the 121st
Aviation Repair Plant at Kubinka.
The time between overhaul (TBO)
for the MiG-29 is normally ten
years or 700 flight hours, but
the Russian military imposes a
calendar deadline of only seven
years. Aircraft RF-93709, a 9.13
version, had been overhauled
in 2010 and was now due for
another. The other five aircraft
will undergo months of technical
work to bring them to
the same standard as
the other four RV i PVO
MiG-29s. The latter were
updated in 2008 (three
aircraft) and in 2011 (one
aircraft), receiving new
MFI-54 multifunction
colour cockpit displays
as well as communication and
navigation equipment to meet
International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) standards.
Once work on the ex-Russian
Fulcrums is completed in the second
half of the year, they will take over
the quick reaction alert (QRA)
assignment and routine pilot training.
By then, the four earlier RV i PVO
jets will have reached the end of their
ten-year TBO and will be overhauled.
Once they return to service, the
five ex-Russian aircraft (minus
RF-9370) will undergo the same
process. By around 2020, the 101.
lovačka avijacijska eskadrila (101.
lae, 101st Fighter Aviation Squadron)
of the 204. vazduhoplovna brigade
(204.vb, 204th Air Brigade) will
have ten MiG-29s. Long-term
maintenance support will be
determined by on-condition
reviews of the airframes, untiltheir service lives expire between
2027 and 2031 – a career spanning
40 years. RAC MiG has further
announced the possibility of
extending service life to 45 years.
This complicated model of
technical support is a consequence
of the urgent need for QRA
aircraft, after the 101.lae was
left with just three MiG-21UMs
and four MiG-29s. Of the
Fulcrums, three were already
close to needing overhaul.
Serbian politicians have
talked publicly about further
MiG-29 modernisation and have
announced the integration of
RVV-AE active radar-homing air-
to-air missiles (AAMs), followed
by ‘smart’ air-to-ground munitions
and radar modifications. For the
time being, however, there’s no
contract to upgrade the Serbian
aircraft to MiG-29SM standard.
The Serbian government has
earmarked a total of €185m for
the entire MiG programme – for
contracted works and potential
modernisation – before tax.
Besides the Russian package,
negotiations are under way with
Belarus, which has offered another
MiG-29 donation under the
condition that they be overhauled
by 558 Aircraft Repair Plant at
Baranovichi. The choice has been
narrowed down to eight single-
seaters: four standard MiG-29s
and four upgraded MiG-29BMs.
The Serbian defence ministry is yet
to decide whether to invest money
in a MiG-29SM modernisationeffort and/or the procurement of
Belarusian MiG-29s. However, it’s
clear that by the mid-2020s, Serbia
will again be looking at acquiring
a new multi-role combat aircraft.
Besides the MiG-29s, the 101.lae
has three two-seat MiG-21UMs.
Previously used only for training,
a lack of QRA fighters saw them
pressed into this role from 2016,
armed with short-range R-60 (AA-8
Aphid) AAMs. QRA duty is now
often performed by one MiG-29
and one MiG-21UM. With the
renovation of the MiG-29 fleet,
the MiG-21UMs will probably be
withdrawn in the near future.Modernised Orao
On paper, the RV i PVO inventory
includes ten single-seat J-22
and seven two-seat NJ-22 Orao
attack aircraft. Of these, however,
only a few remain airworthy and
it long seemed likely that the
remainder would be grounded.
The situation changed in early
2016 when the defence ministry
launched an upgrade plan. The
two-phase approach focuses
on integrating new avionics and
indigenous precision air-to-ground
missiles. The task was assigned
to the Vojnotehnički Institut (VTI,
Military Technical Institute) in
Belgrade. At the same time, it
was decided that spare parts
would be acquired, and an urgent
overhaul of the aircraft carried out
at the ‘Moma Stanojlović’ plant.
There are now five Oraos
in service, and that numberPictured in a vehicle-based application,
the radio command-guided 2T5 missile is
a development of the original Maljutka.
It is being developed with a tandem
high-explosive anti-tank warhead, able
to penetrate 750mm of steel, and should
arm the Gazelle and H145M.
Aleksandar Radić74 // MAY 2018 #362 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
Serbian Air Force and Air Defence
Force
Report