F/A-18 vs MiG-29 Dogfight

On April 17, 2002, the Swiss Air Force invited the German Luftwaffe MiG-29 Fulcrums to a two week exercise, where pilots from both sides were to engage in DACT (Dissimilar Air Combat Training). It was not the first time German MiGs were called upon to confront western pilots with the much feared Russian myth, it was however the first time MiGs were deployed over the Alps. This is an edited video of the action that took place over the mountains.

23 thoughts on “F/A-18 vs MiG-29 Dogfight”

  1. Pingback: swiss air
  2. F-18, terrible aircraft, no wonder one was shot down by a MiG-25 in Iraq. It lacks agility and quality radar systems. It didn’t stand a chance against the MiG-29. The MiG-29 was probably the best aircraft of its day (the Su-27 may have been better) and some of the latest ugrades of the MiG-29 (such as the MiG-29M and MiG-35) could probably take on aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor (these upgrades may have been a hasty response to new US aircraft).

  3. Apparently Jim has never been in the military, so it is easy to sit on his ass & speculate. I would like to meet you Jim, & shove an apple pie in your ignorant ass. I figure your just an adolesant who just makes statements, just to piss people off. You should never judge your apponet too lightly, or you’ll end up dead. Tell me about this incident that no one else does.

  4. Well Jimo, I was in the Navy and I think the F-18 is a terrible aircraft also. The shit bucket F4 was the fighter of my day. F-8 was a better plane. (The Navy has a record of bad choices.) They got rid of their attack aircraft for this “wonder”… Better hope the F-35 pans out cause their stuck with this dud until then. The F-18 IS outclassed by most new generation of fighter aircraft made worldwide. True, pilot training has a lot to do with it but foreign pilot training is getting better every year. So please, sit down, relax your puckered butthole and enjoy your apple pie….

  5. well mick, im with the philippine airforce and i fly with world war2 era planes..can ur F-8 shot me down?

  6. This is to comment by Jimo.You are stupid ignorant dumb ass better shut f..ck up you p..sy loud mouth.You don’t know sheet about military around the world,probably learn how great u.s military from history and military channels,which have been made in a USA.Russian SU-35 is a latest development of Sukhoy company.In air show in Farngboroe(England),Russians asked Americans in front of every body to do dog fight with any american aircraft(including f-22).Americans ignored them,because simply they don’t want be embarassed in front of rest of the World.As far as mig-29,germans mig-29 in 2004 flew in U.S. for combat training with americans.Mig-29s kick the shit of F_15,16 and 18 so bad,americans don’t want even mension this any where.As far as f-22,it is expensive toy which is in real war not going to make it.Also,as far as stealth technology,in serbian war f-117 have been shout down by russian made missle made in 60s.Use modern radars and you will see all this crap in sky as never senn before.
    Chao ass ….e

  7. Seriously, this is going beyond National Spam War…
    Lemme make it straight
    Air to air: Mig-29 > F-16 > F-18
    Air to Ground: F-18 >F-16 > MiG-29
    Result: MiG-29 > F-18
    see?
    F-18 pretty much a Multirole (An combat aircraft that proven equal in terms of delivering AA and AG armament)while F-16 is a Strike Fighter (Fighter that considerable capability to deliver AG armament) which makes F-16 better Dogfighter, but when MiG-29 comes, good bye to both.

    I’m not saying F-18 is a bad Aircraft, it’s just about DESIGN OF FUNCTIONALITY! and F-16 was intended to be Cheap, Lightweight Fighter that composed most of USAF fighter in the first place, while MiG-29, not so much (rather expensive….).

    If you seek for more proper “Enemy” for F-16, MiG-23 is considerable.

    For F-4, there’s nice MiG-25 (which both of them are, INTERCEPTOR, not truly a fighter)

    and for more advanced F-15 variants, we have Su-35, I considered them equivalent, one can take down another depending on situation.

    And don’t make me start about MiG-21 because it’s enemies are F-5…which is not even placed in front line thus never EVER facing each other.

  8. Oh, and pardon….F-4 is a powerful dogfighter anyway! It’s just that I Imagine the Cold War battlefield for a while

  9. f-18 is the worst maneovurable fighter among all the present day fighters.it has been proved again and again in various exercises like pacific vision.while the mig 29 is the most maneouvarable
    4th generation fighter,better than all existing american fighters.

  10. seamonster you sir are a dumbarse, that F-117 didnt get shot down by a missile, it was shot down by anti air ground fire, check your research before embarrassing yourself.

  11. Gentlemen,

    The reality is, that planes are designed for tactics, and there are so many compromises that must be made that the pilot’s favorite design never makes it to front line service. Price being the biggest cause of compromise and corruption being the second.

    No country has a monopoly on outstanding designs either, and the specific design has to take into account tactics to be used. It has been shown over and over and over again, that the most maneuverable plane is not the best suited for a fight.

    The plane with the greatest ability to intigrate into the over-all battle plan, is the best for the fight. If it comes down to a dogfight, your tactics suck. The only time training exercises devolve into dogfights is when the rules of engagement are formulated to favor one specific tactic.

    All that being said, the best dogfighter is always the armchair quarterback’s favorite girl. Even if the marriage ends in divorce.

  12. the f-18 is a not a pure dog fighter it is a multi role fighter the mig 29 is a great aircraft i dont think from what i read it would stand a chance against a mig 29. i am an american through and through but you have to give credit were credit is due the russian’s knew what they were bulding when they bulit the mig 29 a fast and nimble dog fighter i dont think we have a aircraft except for the f-15 which is becoming old very fast and the f-22 that can compair the the russians aircraft thats just my opinion the russians did their homework when they built the mig 29 plus the aircraft after the mig but it still comes down to in this day and age just like in wwII the piolts, nowadays it comes down to the piolts and the avionic systems i think the u.s. has a slight advantage in both but the russians are comming up fast.

  13. Why do people keep bagging the Hornet….it was developed as a comprimise aircraft to suppliment the F-15…it was then navalised. It is not a pure fighter, it wasn’t meant to be. The F-16 was designed as a cheap hot rod fighter with limmited ground capabilities…the Mig as migs go start their design life as fighters…the 29 is the first to designed in the size class that the hornet fits into. Plain black and white…with the exception of the Tornado and the strike eagle..not too many aircraft can do what the hornet does…twin engine reliability with room for upgrades…for it’s time it was the benchmark. Don’t compare aircraft in terms of just air superiority capability. The Mig and the F-16 cannot and can never do what the hornet does…sure it could use more speed and manoverability…but when the shit hits the fan, unless you have the budget of the USAF the Hornet is a pretty good platform to carry out “strike” missions…not this top gun crap. Pull your heads in…

  14. yeah the mig-29 is good but at the end of day it is based on the pilots skills not the plane proved during vietnam the nva with outdated mig-15s not even making mach 1 were able to shot down faster and more aerodynamic f4s with top speed of mach 2+ the navy learned their lesson from the vietnam war and thats why pilots have to train not just be good pilots but the best pilots and not rely on technology the best pilots are the one who think out of the box to kill their targets technology it can be helpful but it can hurt the pilot by making him/her lazier in dogfights like my father said “technology is helpful but makes humans lazier.” I rather spend more money on training than plane and plus navy does not have airforce budget so either the the best planes with poor training or great training and ok planes

  15. yeah the mig-29 is good but at the end of day it is based on the pilots skills not the plane proved during vietnam the nva with outdated mig-15s not even making mach 1 were able to shot down faster and more aerodynamic f4s with top speed of mach 2+ the navy learned their lesson from the vietnam war and thats why pilots have to train not just be good pilots but the best pilots and not rely on technology the best pilots are the one who think out of the box to kill their targets technology it can be helpful but it can hurt the pilot by making him/her lazier in dogfights like my father said, technology is helpful but makes humans lazier. I rather spend more money on training than plane and plus navy does not have airforce budget so either the the best planes with poor training or great training and ok planes.

  16. Hey Sea Monster it’s onvious your a moron.Dutch F-16s shot down some mig 29s look it up.Also the Russians were not at that airshow in England liar.It’s funny how you liars make up stuff only to discredit America cause you hate it lol.The F-15 currently has the best combat record of any aircraft in sorties.It has never been shot down but has shot down plenty lol.The F-22 just surpasses the F-15 with a much faster climb rate.Right now the F-22 is the most advanced Aircraft in the World 5th gen moron along with the new F-35.Your not a pilot so keep your lies and ignorance and hate for America to yourself moron.

  17. Well guys, I’m in Indian Air Force. I fly MiG-29 with no vector thrust and have exercised with F-18. I must say, F-18 is a formidable opponent for MiG-21 or F-5. But even if out numbered by two or three, it has least chance to stand tall against a MiG-29. Rather F-16 would burn some fireworks but no F-18 according to me. Agility and, more importantly, maneuverability is lacked.

  18. the F/A-18 Hornet came out to supplement the U.S. Navy’s then premiere fighter, the F-14 Tomcat. it’s serious drawbacks was it’s range and bring-back ability, where the legacy Hornets (US Navy’s C/D versions) had to dump unexploded ordnance into the sea before recovering on an aircraft carrier. these were corrected in the Super Hornet design. the Super Hornets (E/F versions) together with the Growler are still being further improved to address foreseen threats on the battlefield that the aircraft may encounter, these include new radar/sensor systems, better engines under the EPE program, conformal fuel tanks which would give the acft an even longer reach/loiter time, encased weapons pylon that would give the Super Hornet a better degree in stealthiness, an improved cockpit that would feature a single large multi-color lcd screen, just to name a few. as with the Mig-29 and the Su-27, those acft were designed as an answer to the American F-15A being developed back in the 70’s. the Fulcrum came out first before the Flanker, and this design was found to be sorely inferior to the Eagle. therefore Sukhoi was given the go signal to develop a much larger fighter to match or surpass the Eagle. there were a lot of design setbacks with the Flanker, most especially with its engines and it was fielded into service ten years behind the Eagle, still not meeting the requirements to fully counter all the capabilities of the F-15 which at the time were already being upgraded to “C” standards. the Mig-29 shares the same problem with the earlier Hornets, it may be fast and maneuverable but it cannot take so much fuel to give it the level of persistence as US fighters enjoy. even today with all the recent upgrades the acft received nations who deploy the Fulcrum station these fighters on forward bases near the countries’ borders to compensate for its lack of range. given all that the Eagle still can hold its own against either the Fulcrum and the Flanker. remember that in all DACT exercises that US forces had with other nations, especially those that employ Russian design, there is always a “limit” to their maneuvers. the idea is to study the “opponent”, learn from, devise a way to counter, and not to give away your punches. just like in boxing, you don’t tell the other guy the next punch you’d throw.

  19. If I have to compare between mig-29K and F-18 hornet,I would rate mig-29K higher on any given day because of it’s avionics and maneuverability.But according to me Rafale is the best naval fighter in operation.It has all the parameters to become front line fighter as well as indulge in dogfight with any present day fighter.

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