Iran is reportedly keen to acquire Russian Su-35 Flanker-E fighters to counter the fighter fleets of its regional adversaries. However, a similar attempt by Tehran in the late 1990s to acquire cutting-edge MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters from a former Soviet state was derailed by its adversary, the United States.
Iranian media reported in March 2023 that a deal had been reached between Iran and Russia to arm the Iranian Air Force with 24 Su-35 fighter jets that were originally built for Egypt.
The purported sale was believed to be based on Iran’s continued support for the Russian military in its war against Ukraine. Iran has already received the Russian Yak-130 trainer aircraft that it has equipped with R-73 air-to-air missile.
When the deal first made headlines, observers noted that the acquisition would mark a substantial upgrade for the Iranian air force, predominantly consisting of outdated US and Soviet-era aircraft.
Interestingly, when Israel attacked Iranian military sites in a missile attack in October, pro-Israel and pro-West military bloggers joked that Iran would have to keep its outdated fighters in the air so that Israeli missiles don’t obliterate whatever is left of the Iranian air force.
Iran’s association with Russian jets goes back more than three decades. Iran bought about 18 MiG-29 in 1989, with deliveries starting the following year, in 1990. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, four more MiG-29s were flown from Iraq to Iran.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Iran tried to buy more MiG-29s from Moldova, a small European country located close to Russia. However, the United States came in the way and bought the fighters instead to deny Iran the opportunity to have them.
How US Derailed Iran’s Plan To Buy MiG-29 From Moldova
The MiG-29 was developed and inducted into the Soviet Air Force during the Cold War. It was designed as a riposte to the American F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon. The aircraft was believed to be comparable to the two ace American fighters and even more advanced than them in certain areas.
The US officials were intrigued with the MiG-29 Fulcrum since the day they first spotted it in satellite images. They saw a sophisticated, sleek-looking fighter that could challenge the best US Air Force fighter jets of the time. Some US officials openly acknowledged that the Soviets were catching up with US aircraft technology.
The MiG-29 was a lethal and agile aircraft in its heyday. Its Archer AA-11 missile was very sophisticated for the 1990s because it could lock targets with a helmet-mounted cueing system away from the jet’s nose at greater angles than the American fighters of the same class.
When the Soviet Union disintegrated in December 1991, many former Soviet states inherited these formidable fighters. One such state, Moldova, had Fulcrums that it could not afford to fly or maintain anymore. The only logical step for the country was to sell them.
The US was worried that another adversary might purchase the Moldovan MiG-29s and use them against the interests of the United States and its allies.
Iran expressed the willingness to purchase these second-hand Fulcrums from Moldova in 1997. Washington feared that Moldova would sell Iran the MiGs, particularly the nuclear-capable MiG-29C version, which Iran allegedly sought at the time.
The officials in the US believed that Iran wanted the aircraft because it strived to become a nuclear power. The US also believed that the acquisition of these aircraft by Iran would destabilize the entire Middle East region and put its closest ally, Israel, in a precarious security situation.
So, it decided to buy the aircraft from Moldova instead.
After stating that they were “on Iran’s shopping list,” then-Defense Secretary William S. Cohen declared that the United States would buy 21 of these jets from the former Soviet state. In a deep recession, Moldova readily acquiesced to sell most of its MiG-29 Fulcrum fleet to the US.
Under a deal reached in October 1997, the US purchased six MiG 29As, one MiG 29B, and 14 MiG 29Cs, along with 500 air-to-air missiles and all the spare parts and diagnostic equipment at the Moldovan air base where the aircraft were stationed. The United States transported the fighters to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) on C-17 military transport aircraft.
For Iran, this proved to be a major loss. The Iranian Air Force already operated a fleet of Fulcrums, and the Moldovan MiGs would have been an inexpensive and quick way to increase the numbers required to boost combat prowess, with or without the nuclear carrier capability of the MiG-29C.
Experts later assessed that Iran could convert the F-4 and Su-24 into nuclear delivery platforms if it wanted an aircraft for nuclear weapons.
The United States was interested in MiG-29 from the beginning. Once the aircraft reached the US, their airframes were deconstructed, and the capabilities of each of their components were tested. The US pilots studied, trained on, and flew the MiG-29s.
Around the same time, the Israeli Air Force, keen to get a first-hand look at the MiG-29s, acquired three fighter jets on rent from an undisclosed East European country.
According to reports, over two weeks in April 1997, the Israelis flew each aircraft 20 times. The helmet-mounted sight and infrared search-and-track systems were evaluated technically, and mock battles against the F-15 and F-16 were fought.
The fighter jets greatly impressed the Israelis. “It’s an advanced aircraft, and in close maneuvering engagements, it is terrific,” Israeli Air Force LTG M. said, according to reports. “It makes sharp turns, it’s quick, and in my opinion, as a platform, it does not fall short of our advanced fighter jets.”
Some former Moldovan MiGs were reportedly tested in the United States, including in dissimilar air combat training (DACT) against American-built aircraft. This would have offered insightful information about the Soviet-built fighters, particularly the Fulcrum-C variant.
There have been rumors that the MiG-29 has been flown consistently for years to test and train pilots in the US. A 2022 report in Air Force Magazine claimed that, along with other Russian-built fighters, “some number” of the former Moldovan fleet are still flown for DACT today.
It also noted that other Fulcrums employed for covert testing and evaluation on behalf of the Department of Defense are probably supported by spares from other non-flying members of the imported Moldovan MiG cadre.
None of this could be verified. However, over the years, the Fulcrum has occasionally been spotted in US airspace.
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