Russian MiG-29 Fighter To Participate in Military Drills

The Russian MiG-29 jet fighter pilots have begun military exercises from a Russian base in Armenia.

The Russian Defense Ministry’s Southern Military District’s press service said, "More than 100 Air Force pilots and service personnel are participating in the exercises with more than 30 pieces of specialized military and aviation hardware".

During the three-day exercises, the fighter pilots will cover ground forces from the air and destroy “enemy” bombers, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.

According to the district press service, S-300 missiles, jet fighters and support aircraft will carry out live-fire exercises in April in southern Siberia.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced plans to conduct at least 4,000 military exercises throughout the country in 2015.

The Mikoyan MiG-29 is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It was developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s. The MiG-29, along with the larger Sukhoi Su-27, was developed to counter new American fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.

The MiG-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1983.

While originally oriented towards combat against any enemy aircraft, many MiG-29s have been furnished as multirole fighters capable of performing various operations and are commonly outfitted to use a range of air-to-surface armaments and precision munitions.