Article Summary: In 1997, the U.S. acquired 21 MiG-29 fighters from Moldova to prevent their sale to Iran. While the MiG-29 was already well known to Western intelligence, these aircraft were former Soviet Air Force models, including 14 nuclear-capable MiG-29Cs.
Key Point #1 – The Clinton administration, concerned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, acted swiftly to secure the jets, also obtaining missiles and spare parts. Iran had sought the aircraft as an affordable way to strengthen its air force, but the U.S. move denied Tehran access.
Key Point #2 – The acquired MiGs were later used in U.S. training and testing, helping to evaluate American weapons systems against Russian-built fighters.
How the U.S. Blocked Iran from Acquiring Nuclear-Capable MiG-29 Fighters
This is a bit of a personal story from the years following the Cold War.
It was a time when former Warsaw Pact nations were on their way to becoming NATO members, and I witnessed most of it close-up.
Not many people were talking about the MiG-29 anymore.
Most of the intrigue surrounding Soviet-era military hardware was over at this point.
But one small chapter in this part of the spy world was left to be told.
Back to the Cold War
More than two decades prior the world was deep in the Cold War.
No one could get near a front-line Soviet aircraft without being arrested or worse.
So, in 1976, when Soviet Air Defense Forces (PVO) Flight Lieutenant Viktor Belenko defected from the Soviet Union in his MiG-25 interceptor aircraft and landed on the Japanese island of Hokkaido it was considered the technical intelligence bonanza of the century.
By 1997, there was very little about the Russian-made Mikoyan MiG-29 that the West did not already know.
This aircraft had been on the ground in almost all the former Warsaw Pact nations: the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, as well as in the former Soviet Republics that had all developed friendly ties with the US.
Access to these jets was not a problem for US intelligence.
The US defense attaches assigned to embassies in countries that had these aircraft in their inventory (but also could not afford the jet fuel to buy them very often) had even become weary of offers presented to them by shady middlemen asking, “how would you like to buy a MiG.”
Why The Moldovan MiG-29 Jets Were of Interest
However, when the former USSR Republic of Moldova made noises about selling its MiG-29s, people stood up and took notice.
It was not that the aircraft were that much more interesting to the US military than any of the other MiGs they had already seen.
What made the US Government take notice was the fact that the Iranians were now interested in these aircraft.
Moldova had informed the United States in late 1996 of Iranian inquiries as to the availability to purchase the aircraft.
The Iranians then journeyed to Moldova to conduct a pre-purchase inspection of the MiG-29s.
This caught the additional attention of high-ranking officials within the Clinton administration.
The administration already had intelligence findings that the Iranians were attempting to acquire not just nuclear weapons, but also any potential delivery systems that could carry them.
In order to keep the aircraft from falling into Iranian hands, the US began negotiations with Moldova in February 1997 to acquire these aircraft and get them “off the market.”
The final agreement was for the sale to Washington of 21 of these Moldovan-owned fighters, to include 14 MiG-29C-9.13 aircraft.
It was the MiG-29Cs, the later-built models of the aircraft, that were the platforms that the US wanted to be kept out of Iranian hands.
These MiGs were not like any of those that were in service with the Polish or East German Air Forces. These aircraft were former Soviet Air Force models and thus were equipped with additional on-board systems and release controls in the cockpit that would allow them to deliver nuclear weapons.
Other than just being nuclear-capable the Moldovan jets were superior in performance and other aspects to the earlier-model MiG-29A models. Iran had already purchased A-models from the Russians direct from the factory line in Moscow and Lukhovitsiy during the early 1990s.
The rest of the deal included six MiG-29A-9.12 aircraft, one MiG-29B-9.41 two-seat combat-capable trainer, 500 air-to-air missiles, and numerous other spare parts and diagnostic systems required to service the aircraft.
Iran’s Loss
The US zooming in to buy these aircraft out from under the Iranians was a lost opportunity for the Islamic Republic Armed Forces.
Speaking almost 7 years later with Iranian Air Force officers at their national air show they stated these aircraft would have been a very cost-effective plus-up for the Iranian armed forces.
They had been looking for more MiGs and new aircraft had been offered to them by Russia in the mid-1990s.
But what was on offer then were considered to be sub-par in quality compared to the aircraft built in the Soviet period and there were also problems with the reliability of on-board systems.
Subsequent intelligence assessment were if Iran had been able to develop a nuclear weapon, other aircraft in their inventory like the US-made F-4 Phantoms that had been acquired under the reign of the Shah could have carried them.
Iran also had 12 Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s that were later converted into nuclear delivery platforms by Rosoboronexport and Sukhoi.
The MiG-29s were later tested and operated in the US for various training purposes and to analyze how effective US weapons could be against them in a combat environment. Some of them are still utilized in that role to this day.
Video: How America Got the MiG-29 Fighter
MiG-29: A Photo Essay
Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum Firing U.S. AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM).
Naval variant of the second generation MiG-29, with the NATO codename ‘Fulcrum-D’. Reported to be operated by the 100th Independent Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment (OKIAP) based at Severomorsk. On static display at the Aviation cluster of the ARMY 2017 event. Kubinka Airbase, Moscow Oblast, Russia.
MiG-29K. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
MiG-29 fighter jet. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
MiG-29. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Polish Air Force MiG-29 at the 2013 Royal International Air Tattoo.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is now an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
