MiG-29

The MiG-29 is a highly manoeuvrable fighter jet. Two large air intakes are mounted below and occupy most of the fuselage, and terminate with two parallel dark nozzles, above which two diagonally-cut are mounted and point outwardly. Perpendicular to the flaps are two tall vertical stabilisers. The trapezoidal wings are lightly sweep-angled, and terminate to the front with root extensions called LERXs (leading-edge root extension). The long bubble canopy accommodates one or two crew members, with the two-seater version being slightly longer thus leaving no space for the frontal radar: this trainer version sports a smaller “black nose”.

The MiG-29 aircraft in MAF inventory use the 27XX tail number format. Myanmar Witness has identified tail numbers ranging from 2700 until 2737, suggesting the total number of MiG-29 to be as high as 37. Currently 27 out of the 37 tail numbers have been sighted in online imagery by MW investigators. While MW is not able to confirm all the different model versions supposedly delivered to the MAF, and the number of aircraft representing each version, MW has been able to verify the existence of at least 5 MiG-29UB twin-seater trainers (2714 to 2718). According to FlightGlobal’s 2022 World Air Forces directory, only 26 MiG-29 in MAF inventory are still operational.