MiG-29 of the Ukrainian Air Force has been spotted with a new “mysterious” pylon
New weapons or everything is much simpler
The Ukrainian Air Force published an extremely interesting photo of a Mig-29 equipped with new pylons. We should note right away that this vehicle, given its appearance, does not belong to Polish or Slovak aid.
The photo in question is official and posted publicly, and moreover, it contains the caption “new day – new challenges,” which may indicate a truly significant event.
New day – new challenges! pic.twitter.com/iuAQfvLrQd
– Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) June 20, 2023
If you zoom in on the image, you should pay attention to the pair of pylons that are closer to the center of the airplane. While some are standard APU-470s for the R-27 air-to-air missile, others remain unidentified. And the first thing you may notice is the length, which is slightly longer than the APU-470 with a length of 2.5 meters. And this has already given rise to a huge number of theories.
It should be noted that the MiG-29 has already integrated the western pylon LAU-118, which is used to launch anti-radar AGM-88 HARMs, but it is much shorter.
The pylons for launching AIM-120 missiles, which are extremely difficult to integrate into Soviet vehicles, as well as AIM-9, which are LAU-127/128/129 (for F/A-18, F-15, and F-16), are 2.7 meters long. They are indeed similar, but the point is that they are “railroaded”.
It was theorized that it was designed for AIM-7 or IRIS-T missiles, the integration of which into Soviet vehicles is also a huge question.
But the fact is that the fasteners that are more typical for bomb holders or other large loads, and of the Soviet standard, deserve attention. And objectively, it is possible to apply to all other options for MiG-29 pylons except those designed for air-to-air missiles.
For example, it is quite easy to find a photo of the MiG-29, which is still in the process of being tested with the FAB-500, on “long” pylons – MBD3-UTK, although it should be noted that they are double-locked.
And in the modern photo of the MiG-29M for Egypt, you can see another “long” pylon, which is also installed on all other MiG-29M and MiG-29K. This is the AKU-58 pylon, which is designed to accommodate large weapons and supports the installation of guided missile weapons.
Of course, we shouldn’t rule out that this is a new development, when the front section of the pylon contains sensors, in particular for searching for radar stations. But despite all the possible theories about the new weapons, it is highly unlikely that the official photo from the Ukrainian Air Force accidentally declassified completely new capabilities.
