Well, not quite .... but the large-scale sales drives that the Soviets have been conducting in the last few years (at airshows like Farnborough, Paris and Singapore) look like paying off -- export orders for front-line Soviet Fighters are starting to come in and, in the way of these things, each such sale potentially generates more by causing the people next door to think about what they might need to deal with their neighbors' new acquisitions. OK, so who's buying what? After 30 years of ideological bickering, the USSR and China are starting togetbackon speaking terms: one of the first results of this rapprochement was the announcement of the purchase of twenty- two SU-27 Flankers by the PLAAF, with the possibility of more to come in the future, perhaps even backed up by MiG29s. An interesting aspect of the negotiations for the aircraft has been Chinese insistence that the Russians train their maintenance crews in the USSR, rather than by the usual "visiting advisor" method; the Chinese have long memories, and do not intend to be caught by another Soviet walk-out if relations between the two countries sour, as happened in the late 'fifties. Whether they got their way on this point is not known. Iran is also talking to the Soviets about acquiring combat aircraft, specifically the NEG-29 and the SU-24 Fencer, to replace their worn out and heavily cannibalized F-4, F-5, and F14s. The Iranians say that they already have one squadron of MiGs, and want more. It is known that at least four Iraqi Fulcrums and 24 Fencers fled to Iran after Operation Desert Storm began; some of these are among the aircraft which have been repainted in Iranian colors, so it is likely that Iran intends to keep them and wants to buy spares and support equipment. The new, unified Luftwaffe has been deciding what to do with the Soviet made aircraft that it inherited from the former East German Air Force. In particular, the fate of the 24 MiG-29s has been a subject of intense interest: among other options, the Germans are said to have offered them to the US for use as Aggressor aircraft (talk about dissimilar ACM!), but this was rejected on the grounds of excessive operating and maintenance costs. The Luftwaffe brass appear to disagree with this opinion because they have decided to keep the 20 single- and 4 twoseaters operational until the end of their service lives (expected to occur around the end of the decade); they believe that they have enough spares to keep the Fulcrums flying in their designated roles of air defence of eastern Germany and ACM training. Of the other combat types acquired from the East Germans, the MG-21s and -23s are not expected to fly again, although the SU-22s are to be evaluated in late 1991 and may be retained. It's not all good news for Mikoyan and Sukhoi. Zimbabwe has cancelled its order for twelve MiG-29s. 'Ibis is probablyjust as well because thatnation is notexactly rich and thee were reports that paying for the aircraft could have bankrupted the country! *Of course, once you've got 'em, you have to keep them flying ... Soviet MiG-23ML Flogger-Gs are having engine problems. In an attempt to increase the time between overhauls, senior officers have ordered that the allowable turbine inlet temperature for the Tumanski R35-300 engine be decreased (for the third time). The resulting drop in thrust has lowered the aircraft's ceiling by 6500 feet, reduced its maximum speed "below operational requirements" and worsened its never-all-that-good handling qualities. Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 15 Back to Air Power List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by J.D. Webster This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com