NATO TACTICS
MiG-29 pilots trained in NVA tactics, but
flying under NATO rules of engagement,
experienced initial difficulties. They were,
to all intents and purposes, on their own
without the aid of the datalink and the
GCI controller, on whom they had come
to depend. For them, there was a big
learning curve before they would become
proficient enough to use their skills and
unique aircraft to the greatest potential.
For pilots of the F/A-18s, F-16s, Mirage
2000 and F-15Cs, there was a different
learning curve: how to engage and defeat
this highly manoeuvrable aircraft which was,
for most of them, beyond their experience.
The value of exercises increased as the
MiG pilots became more familiar with their
new role; a process greatly helped by the
arrival of an F-4F squadron at Laage in- With only 13 of the original MiG pilots
remaining in 1997, it had been necessary to
train more candidates to fly the MiGs. These
were drawn from the Phantom squadron,
and JG 73 now had pilots who could fly both
the MiG-29 and the F-4F.
Often the two aircraft exercised in
tandem, matching the short-range
capabilities of the Fulcrum against the long
range of the Phantom, with its more efficient
APG-65 radar.
The MiG-29 always flew on the wing in
a multi-ship exercise, never as lead, owing
to the relative inefficiency of some of its
avionics in the NATO environment.
Oberstleutnant Peter Steiniger was the
operations officer of 1/JG 73 during that
time. He was both an F-4F and Fulcrum
pilot and remembers the many NATO force
deployments to Laage. “I would pair this
young, pumped-up, and all-excited F-16
pilot with an ‘original’ NVA equivalent to go
out and fight one-on-one,” he said. “We
had hundreds of missions like this, with
thousands of lessons learned in debriefings
with our counterparts hanging on our
words and staring at our video tape... in
visual close-in fights, most of the time in
astonishment.
“We accepted that role of showing other
NATO partners how this aircraft could
perform, with Western mind-set and training
in Eastern hardware.”
Undoubtedly, the combination of the R-73
(NATO reporting name AA-11 Archer) missile
and the head-mounted sight made the
MiG-29 formidable in a close-in combat with
other NATO aircraft; where the Russian-built
aircraft’s manoeuvrability could also be used
to its greatest advantage.
Oberstleutnant Johann Koeck, another
F-4F pilot, took command of thehttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 27Above: In service with the Luftwaffe, the MiG-
29UB was redesignated as the MiG-29GT- 29+23 is taxiing at Laage in the summer of
2 0 01. Stefan Petersen
Left: MiG-29G, 29+10 was painted in a special
scheme to commemorate the final visit of
the Fulcrums to the United States in 2003 –
here it’s flying in formation with MiG-29G,
29+02 and two F-15C Eagles of the 60th
Fighter Squadron, 33rd Fighter Wing. USAF
Archives
Bottom: MiG-29G 29+16 lifts off in a formation
take-off at Laage. Peter Steiniger
‘Undoubtedly, the
combination of the
AA-11 missile and
the head-mounted
sight made the
MiG-29 formidable
in a close-in combat
with other NATO
aircraft’
26-30_german_migs_part_2DC.mfDC.indd 27 01/03/2018 17:03