Mikoyan MiG-29UB (9.51) "Fulcrum-B"
The two-seat combat trainer — instructor in the back, no radar in the nose · First flight 1981
The MiG-29UB (product 9.51) adds a second, raised cockpit for an instructor. The N019 radar was deleted, but the infrared search-and-track sensor was retained. The first prototype flew on 29 April 1981 with OKB test pilot A. G. Fastovets; three prototypes were built.
Almost every MiG-29 customer bought a few UBs alongside the single-seaters. East Germany's batch of 24 aircraft included four, Poland's first 12 included three, and India's 1984 order for 44 MiG-29s included four. The second UB prototype, which made 213 test flights between 1982 and 1986, survives at the Riga aviation museum in Latvia.
The type has also flown in civilian hands: the US-registered MiG-29UB N29UB has flown at American airshows, and Russia's Swifts aerobatic team has long used UBs in its display line-up.
