The Russian MiG-29 Fighter Flopped Hard In Middle East Wars

It's not a bad jet, but it did fly for bad air forces

An Iranian MiG-29 in 2013. Tasnim News Agency photo

Iran recently received Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters from Russia as a “short-term solution” ahead of a future delivery of more advanced Sukhoi Su-35s, an Iranian lawmaker announced.

Analysts have already dismissed the claim. Nevertheless, it’s a reminder that the MiG-29’s star has faded in the region—not that it ever shone all that brightly.

“The MiG-29 has arrived in Iran, in Shiraz,” lawmaker Abolfazl Zohrevand said on Sept. 24. “The Su-35 is also coming; this is ongoing.”

Analysts are skeptical, with one pointing out that Russia can barely support its remaining Fulcrum fleet—which numbers fewer than 90—much less deliver aircraft to Iran.

There’s no photographic evidence of any new MiG-29s arriving in Shiraz. Past reports in Iranian media regarding the delivery of Su-35s, which Tehran reportedly ordered and paid for years ago, have proved false or extremely premature.

Still, if Zohrevand’s claim ultimately proves true, it would mark the first delivery of Fulcrums to the wider region in a decade, with the arguable exception of Algeria’s 2019 order of 14 disassembled MiG-29M/M2s.

The MiG-29 was never a very popular fighter in the Middle East. Syria, once a loyal Soviet client state, became the second foreign operator of the type—after India—in 1987.