The Slovak government approved sending MIG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine stepping up its military assistance to Kyiv in its fight against the Russian invasion. Slovakia is the second country to send war planes to Kyiv after Poland, which announced by Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on Thursday it would do so. Its fleet of 11 MiG-29 planes was retired last summer and most of them are not in operational condition. NATO allies in the former communist eastern europe such as Poland and Slovakia have been particularly vocal supporters of Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine. Slovakia will also supply part of its KUB air-defence system.
Inherited from Czechoslovakia, 10 MiG-29ASs and 1 MiG-29UBS were in service Slovak Air Force as of 2021. Work is done by Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG and Western firms, starting from 2005. The aircraft now has navigation and communications systems from Rockwell Collins, an IFF system from BAE Systems, new glass cockpit features multi-function LC displays and digital processors and also fitted to be integrate with Western equipment in the future. They were officially withdrawn from service on 31 August 2022. Slovakia signed a deal to buy 14 U.S. F-16 Block 70/72 fighter jets, but delivery was pushed back two years to early 2024.
The Mikoyan MiG-29 (NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Sukhoi Su-27, was developed to counter new U.S. fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. The MiG-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Forces in 1983. While originally oriented towards combat against any enemy aircraft, many MiG-29s have been furnished as multirole fighters capable of performing a number of different operations.
The 2K12 “Kub” (NATO reporting name: SA-6 “Gainful”) mobile surface-to-air missile system is a Soviet low to medium-level air defence system designed to protect ground forces from air attack. 2K12 is the GRAU designation of the system. The battery usually also includes four triple-missile transporter erector launchers (TELs), and four trucks, each carrying three spare missiles and a crane. The TEL is based on a GM-578 chassis, while the 1S91 radar vehicle is based on a GM-568 chassis, all developed and produced by MMZ. The Slovak Air Defence had 4 2K12s with C2 Tatrapan PVO.
