UKRAINE PREPARED TO JOIN INVESTIGATION OF CRASHED FIGHTER MIG-29 IN AZERBAIJAN
Trend News Agency
Feb 12 2008
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Baku, 11 February / Trend News corr. K.Rmazanova / The
Ukrainian Defense Ministry has expressed its willingness to join the
investigation being carried out to reveal the cause of the crashed
fighter jet MIG-29 in Azerbaijan. Neither the fighter jet nor the
bodies of the pilots have been found as yet.
" Azerbaijan did not appeal for aid," Ukrainian Defence Ministry
reported to Trend on 11 February.
The fighter jet MIG-29 of the Air Forces of Azerbaijan crashed
during training on 29 January. Both pilots on board the fighter jet,
Fakhraddin Asgarov and Afgan Aslanov died. A case has been filed by
the Military Prosecutor of Azerbaijan.
"What needs to be investigated is what state the fighter jet was in,
and who updated and repaired it," Elena Lvova, the head of the Public
Affairs Office of the Russian MIG Construction Cooperation, said. The
Air Forces of Azerbaijan obtained the MIG- 29 jet in March 2007,
modernized by Ukraine.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry does not see any need to involve
specialists from other countries. "We will invite them if it becomes
necessary," Eldar Sabiroglu, head of the press-service reported.
The MIG-29 jets which Azerbaijan uses as air space protection has
previously crashed during training flights in Russia, Malaysia, Peru,
Slovakia and Armenia.
The MiG-29 "Fulcrum" ("Tochka Opori" in Russian) was designed and
built to be a single-seater, supersonic, all-weather, air superiority
fighter, with the MiG-31 "Foxhound", the latest and perhaps the last
fighter production items from the Mikoyan Design Bureau. The primary
role of the MiG-29 is to destroy air targets at a distances from 60
to 200 km (30 to 110 NM), at all altitudes, on all profiles, in any
weather, and under all ECM conditions. In addition, the basic MiG-29
jet is capable of limited air-to-ground operations and its advanced
versions have been optimized to attack both stationary and moving
targets with precision guided ammunition.