Combat record
MiG-29 Fulcrum — Combat Record
4th-generation jet · USSR · First flight 1977 · Combat-proven: air-to-air
The story behind the numbers
The Fulcrum arrived in 1983 as the fighter NATO feared — a helmet-cued, off-boresight-missile dogfighter that Western pilots who flew reunified Germany’s examples rated unbeatable inside visual range. Its combat history then handed it every disadvantage: flown by Iraq, Yugoslavia and Syria against coalitions with AWACS, jamming and numbers, it lost around fifteen aircraft without a confirmed kill.
Eritrean–Ethiopian war MiG-29s even lost to Su-27s flown by mercenaries in the type’s only same-family duels. Ukraine’s MiG-29s — fighting since 2022 with the type’s old adversaries as allies — have scored against drones and cruise missiles, giving the Fulcrum’s story a final ironic chapter still being written.
Campaign by campaign
| Years | Campaign | Operator | Victories | A2A losses | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Gulf War | Iraq | 0 | 5 | Five Iraqi MiG-29s downed by F-15s (one via fratricide); no kills. |
| 1999 | Kosovo War | Yugoslavia | 0 | 6 | Six Yugoslav MiG-29s downed by NATO F-15s/F-16s. |
| 1999–2000 | Eritrea–Ethiopia | Eritrea | 0 | 2 | The only MiG-29-vs-Su-27 duels ever — two Eritrean Fulcrums downed by Ethiopian Flankers. |
| 2022–25 | Russo-Ukrainian War | Ukraine | 0 | 29 | ~29 Ukrainian MiG-29s visually confirmed lost to mixed causes; used for HARM/JDAM strikes. |
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