Video, another link same video UAV video .
Well it’s somebodies Mig-29??? Guess the Russians forgot it was taking their picture???
Politics aside, it looks like a perfectly executed maneuver. Impressive. The pilot prepares the target, positions it over the open sea and above the horizon by flying a nice steep turn, descends, gets laser pointer lock and fires. Everything works, a perfect commercial for the MiG design bureau to be aired all over the world for free. Are those guys so smart, lucky, or just trigger happy flying those vodka burners? What do you think Chad?
Dandy, can you please translate this for me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HXMHdhQL_8
Yes wazz, in a nut shell, it is about statements general Sejna (read Sheyna) made after his defection to the USA. His claims were seen as absurd by other military experts ( as described by the guy talking in front of the tank ). But was is true, and this has nothing to do with Sejna, is that certain drugs were considered as very useful tactical weapon, since they were rather humane (not killing anyone ), but extremely effective in demoralizing troops. What you see on the video is a group of officers who are planning a combat operation and after being affected by the substance in question, they considered everything to be a joke. Hence, they were rendered inoperative. The video describes the substance as tests with the LSD, but the group was hit by a different drug according to my opinion, based on what I heard a long, long time ago. This particular one makes soldiers feel amused with yelling commanders and more they are pushed, more funny they think it is. Plus, they don’t remember where they were going and what exactly they wanted to do just a minute ago, except that it is all unbelievably funny.
Similar test were of course conducted in the US and England, and it all started in Germany with highly advanced pharmaceutical industry during the second world war. maybe you are familiar with the Wunder drug, used by German submariners or later Luftwaffe pilots, which may partially explain their extreme efficiency. One Air Force still applies these stimulants even now, achieving a very similar success, except one has to be careful in making sure the target is not … for instance … “Canadians”.
Now, having said that, the Soviet Army was (according to Chad) on Vodka only! If you need any more info, drop me an email so we don’t divert from the issues discussed in this trail.
Who is Chad?
Chad is one of us, evidently allergic to vodka. If he is brave enough, he will reveal his identity. He is also ultralight builder and very skilled in mathematics. I like him very much. 
Cruise speed of Hermes (the UAV that was shot down) is 130 km/h. MiG had to be at around 350-400 km/h at least not to go into the stall. The air speed of MiG seems to me to be too low for that.
Also, Russia claims that the UAV was shut down by another plane, not MiG-29.
In any case, this video does not tell good things about Russian air-to-air rockets - they smoke.
I don’t think that a MiG-29 stalls at 350-400 km/h…
350 km/h is about 185 knots…that might not be too far off from its straight and level stall speed in a clean configuration.
I’ve seen F/A-18s flying at 110km/h !
Now I know that it’s probably flown with something very close to a clean configuration with some degrees of flaps and slats, but with the MiG-29s much superior thrust-to-weight ratio and pretty much equal wing area, 350 km/h is a little too much.
That drone was probably taking pictures for Google Earth…
I don’t think that a MiG-29 stalls at 350-400 km/h…
The stall speed in straight flight in SL is of course lower, but a)MiG was coming out from manuever b)It was rather high altitude - so it had to be at least that speed. It’s just an estimation, however.
The only way you’ve seen a Hornet flying at 58 kts. is at a very high AOA and with significant power. And it’s a very dynamic maneuver. Approach to landing speed in a high performance fighter is in the 160 kt. range. What you see in the video is the MIG roll in from the right at a high bank angle to bleed off energy placing it in proper firing position and distance and at about 220 kts level flight, while still closing on the UAV. I’m with Londo…going any slower requires greater concentration and tasking, and just wasn’t necessary.
Yep ! You guys are right…
I couldn’t see the vid for some reason on my PC so I assumed it was a good old-fashioned face-to-face intercept and therefore I thought you said that the MiG stalls at 400 km/h flying straight and level… I’m sorry about that. The video is a lot more impressive than I thought it was ! Nice post !
Take off speed of MiG-29 is 168 miles per hour, stall speed 140, max 1530, and can operate in altitudes up to 60700 feet.
Are those figures at max T-O weight ? Are they for the MiG-29 or the more recent MiG-35 ?
They seem coherent with what we see though. Pretty nice performance figures ! I love Russian jets, and the engineers at Saturn-Llyulka (the company that makes the engines) have always been able to supply the military (and aerospace) with top-of-the-line products. I don’t know if they’re still called “Saturn-Llyulka” though…