Chapter 532 Airport Guardian

In later times, the Su-27 became world-renowned. Sukhoi made enough profit by exporting the Su-27. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was still able to make profits from exports to maintain the company's operations. In contrast, another design bureau that was almost as famous as the one in the world had to be merged.

This design bureau is the "Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau", which was established by Artyom Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich in 1939. The MiG series of fighter jets it produced are named after the first letters of the two designers' surnames.

Since its establishment, the MiG fighter has been developing continuously. However, the early models did not shine in World War II, which was dominated by the La series and Yak series. After World War II, in terms of jet fighters, the MiG fighter became the mainstay of the Soviet sky.

Starting from the earliest MiG-15, the aircraft of the Mikoyan Design Bureau not only flew in the Soviet sky, but were also almost the main fighter jets of socialist countries. The MiG-21 has become the world's most produced fighter jet since its production began. Only the F-16 can compare with it.

Afterwards, the MiG-25 established the dominant position of the Mikoyan Design Bureau's fighter jets. Although the true identity of this fighter jet is a backward fighter jet made of stainless steel, until now, the Western world led by the United States is still trembling under the threat of the MiG-25. They simply cannot come up with a similar fighter jet to compete with the MiG-25.

After that, the products of the Mikoyan Design Bureau continued to emerge. The MiG-31 was developed based on the MiG-25, and the MiG-29 was an advanced Soviet fighter.

In fact, in terms of reputation, the aircraft produced by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in the past were mainly self-produced and almost never exported, so it is not as famous as the Mikoyan Design Bureau. In the 1980s, the Mikoyan Design Bureau was at its peak.

Therefore, after visiting the Sukhoi Design Bureau, Andrei's next stop was not the Black Sea Shipyard, but the Mikoyan Design Bureau.

Andrei's previous vehicle was the MiG-25, so he should have had more feelings for the Mikoyan Design Bureau.

However, the reality was unexpected. General Andrei had always been very concerned about the Sukhoi Design Bureau and fully supported the Su-27. He even personally gave advice and instructed the Sukhoi Design Bureau on the development of the next generation of fighter jets. However, Andrei had almost no interaction with the Mikoyan Design Bureau.

This inevitably led some people to wonder whether General Andrei favored one over the other because of some inside story, such as the instruction of General Secretary Andropov.

In fact, Andrei certainly did not have any subjective assumptions. It was just that Andrei had flown the J-11 in his previous life, so he was very eager for the Su-27 series of fighters. Therefore, when he accepted the suggestion of his fellow Air Force Deputy Commander-in-Chief General Yefremov and asked to visit the Mikoyan Design Bureau, Andrei happily agreed.

The Mikoyan Design Bureau, like the Sukhoi Design Bureau, is based in Moscow and is a frequent visitor to many people.

Rostislav Belyakov, the chief designer of the Mikoyan Design Bureau, welcomes all the dignitaries. Since Gurevich passed away in 1976, Belyakov has been the head of the Mikoyan Design Bureau. Under his leadership, a series of fighters have been developed or improved, including the "MiG-27" fighter-bomber, "MiG-21", "MiG-23" and "MiG-25" fighters of various improved versions, "MiG-29" front-line light fighter, "MiG-31" interceptor, and even the fifth-generation fighter prototype. At the same time, this is also a long-lived guy. In later generations, he lived to the age of 95 and witnessed the rise and fall of the Mikoyan Design Bureau.

Now, Belyakov is still an energetic old man. He is over 60 years old, which may be considered retirement age in other places. However, in the field of aircraft design, he has unique advantages and his experience makes him extremely wise.

His hair was beginning to turn gray, his forehead looked a little bald, and his beard was clean-shaven. The first impression Beliakov gave people was that of a great Soviet scientific and technological worker.

"We welcome you all to visit the Mikoyan Design Bureau." Belyakov said: "Now, let us first introduce our MiG-29 fighter jets. Now, they are serving in large numbers in Eastern Europe, guarding the skies of our motherland. At the same time, the first batch of our MiG-29s will be exported to Iraq. This is the first export under the negotiation of General Andrei." Belyakov said.

Although there were many people present, Belyakov knew that General Andrei was the youngest among them and had the most special status. As a member of the ZJJ who was less than 30 years old, his future was limitless. Therefore, he attached great importance to Andrei. Although what he had heard about the Sukhoi Design Bureau only made him respect General Andrei in front of him more.

After all, being the chief designer requires more than just talent. It is also extremely important to maintain good personal relations with senior officials in Moscow.

"Well, the MiG-29 is an advanced fighter. Although it does not use fly-by-wire operation, its agility is also first-class. Even when facing the F-15, it has a certain ability to fight against it. This fighter will play an irreplaceable role in protecting our skies." Andre said: "But, I have a small suggestion."

The MiG-29 has also begun to be equipped in the Turkestan Military District. Andrei has flown this fighter before. First, as a pilot, he asked questions to the designer of the MiG-29, which made everyone prick up their ears.

"The biggest problem with the MiG-29 is that its range is too short," said Andrei. "Westerners laugh at us because no MiG can fly over the Dnieper River and call our fighters airport defenders."

The range is too short! When the MiG-29 was designed, it was originally a light fighter for the front line. The internal space of the fuselage was limited and the fuel capacity was small. In order to achieve excellent combat performance, two turbofan engines were used. At the same time, in order to take off and land at the front-line field airport, an auxiliary air intake was set up above the air intake. All these made the MiG-29's range have to be shortened.

Some military fans compare the combination of Su-27 and MiG-29 with the combination of F-15 and F-16 in the United States, thinking that they are both high-low combinations. In fact, this is completely incorrect. The vast territory of the Soviet Union determines that they must have long-range interceptors. After the production of Su-27, it was first equipped with the National Air Defense Force. Moreover, in training, it is more about using medium-range air-to-air missiles to throw spears at long distances, and rarely conducts close combat, which is the typical use of interceptors. The MiG-29 is mainly equipped with the Air Force. Their mission is to enter the front-line airport and take on the task of fighting for air supremacy and air suppression at any time. In the training of MiG-29 fighters, combat is the main thing. And according to the experience of World War II, this requires a fighter that can withstand a large amount of battlefield consumption, strong and cheap, and easy to mass produce. At the same time, there are great defects in terms of life. Because it is used at the front-line airport and will be transferred at any time with the advancement of the front line, this kind of aircraft does not require a long range.

And now, what Andre said was simply nitpicking! This made people think of some rumors. Could it be that General Andre wanted to suppress the Mikoyan Design Bureau?

Admiral Yefremov, who was following nearby, frowned even more. In the Soviet aviation system, the National Air Defense Force was the boss, and all advanced equipment was provided to them first, while the Air Force could only pick up the leftovers. Now that the Air Force finally had an advanced fighter, it was singled out by General Andrei to criticize it for its shortcomings?

The words "airport guard" made the people in the Mikoyan Design Bureau feel even more uncomfortable.

"General Andrei, our fighter jets have fully achieved the performance indicators and realized all the parameters of the original design. When it was originally designed, there was no requirement for our MiG-29 to have a large range. The maximum range of 1,500 meters is already the most suitable performance data for the MiG-29." Beliakov said.