I was inspired to write this article by the planned Battle Rating changes: if we can give the Yak-141 the R-73, we should give it to the MiG-29 too.
The MiG-29 (9.13) does not have the capability to operate the R-27ER, and in 13.0 the German MiG-29 was equipped with the R-73, and in 12.3 there was a MiG-21 that could use a very similar payload. Therefore, for both game balance and equipment accuracy, the R-27ER should be removed from the MiG-29 and the R-73 should be given.
sauce:
Everyone wants this but sadly gaijin just wont do anything about it
Don’t even remove r27er just give it r73s.
With these new balance changes there’s no point of removing r27ers.
why not leave it with only r60m and put it at 12.3 or even 12.0
personal seethe is involved behind the gimping of this plane. One of the worst FMs in the game and starved of its actual arsenal
actually just remove missiles from the mig altogether
Instant 9.3 material right there
I think removing the ERs, keeping it to the regular R27 and giving it r73, for a BR of 12.3 would be okay. It’d still be a lot better than say the Mirage F1C at 12.0, so I would not put it lower, but it would also not be at the same stupid BR as the F15
People tell this for years, idk why Gaijin is so stubborn on 29s.
My bet is there’s a personal grudge against the plane from one of the leading devs.
heh
9-13 getting R73 and 9-12 getting added to the ussr tech tree as a separate vehicle without R73
Out of all the ways to do this gaijin literally picked the worst
9.13 is now just a heavier MiG-29G balance wise (got upped to 13.0), while they are adding a 9.12 with the same R-60s and the ER at 12.7
Lol, lmao even. It’s like they are forced to give the 9.13 it’s R-73s…
Of course, I completely agree with your point. However, the reason Gaijin has consistently equipped the BR 12.7 MiG-29 with such an absurd and mismatched loadout—R-60M + R-27ER—is likely because this configuration conveniently serves those “wallet warriors” who specialize in base bombing. For these players, infrared-guided missiles are essentially useless since they prefer to carry incendiary bombs; hence, even the R-73 becomes redundant. Meanwhile, the inclusion of the R-27ER ensures that, even while lugging four incendiary bombs, they can still snag a kill or two with a radar-guided missile when opportunistic.
If this brain-dead loadout were ever revised—for instance, swapped to a more logical R-60 + R-27R or R-73 + R-27ER combination—the incentive for these base-bombing-only pay-to-win players to purchase the MiG-29 would diminish, and Gaijin would consequently lose a portion of their revenue. These low-effort players, whose gameplay revolves solely around bombing airfields, represent a crucial customer segment for Gaijin: they are the ones who top up without complaint. That is precisely why the BR 12.7 MiG-29 has perpetually retained this ground-attack-optimized configuration, while the experience of players who actually want to engage in air combat with the MiG-29 is casually sacrificed.
To make matters worse, the lethargic developers at Gaijin cannot even be bothered to introduce alternative MiG-29 variants with different, more balanced loadouts, such as R27R/T+R60M at 12.3 and R27R/T+R73 at 12.7. This plainly demonstrates that they simply do not care. There is zero motivation for them to improve the gameplay environment below top tier—even though, let’s be honest, the top-tier meta is already a dumpster fire.
