Mikoyan MiG-29 "Fulcrum In the late 1960s, the US Air Force began work on the development of a next-generation fighter under the "Fighter Experimental (FX)" program. In 1969, McDonnell Douglas won the FX competition with what would become the "F-15 Eagle." The Soviet Union followed the FX program with great interest. Obviously, if the West had improved fighters, the VVS (Voyenno Vozdushniye Sily / Red Air Force) USSR had to have comparable fighters to counter them, and that same year, 1969, the Soviet government issued a requirement for an "anti-F-15" heavy fighter, under the designation "Prospective Frontal Fighter (Perspektivnyi Frontovoi Istrebitel / PFI)". THw MiG 29 Fulcrum is the result of the PFF project. The Mikoyan MiG-29 "Fulcrum" was one of the Soviet Union's most important combat aircraft in the last years of the Cold War, and remains an important military asset for the successor Russian Republic. It has been widely exported, and is now being updated with improved systems to keep it in service well into the 21st century. The MiG 29 shares several features with the F 15 Eagle, including appearance and basic structure. 2,000 Russian troops took over the Crimean Peninsula of the Ukraine on Fri Feb 28-2014. A few weeks later Russia sent 40,000 Russia troops, tanks, planes, choppers, armored vehicles, and artillery to it's eastern and southern borders with the Ukraine. On two separate days in late April 2014 Soviet fighters have violated Ukrainian airspace. When you are a small country, next to Russia and you don't join NATO that is giving Putin an invitation to invade and take over. One of the leaders of the Ukraine was pro-Russian. That is a major part of the Crisis in the Ukraine. As a result NATO forces have moved into the Baltics on 4-28-14 and will be conducting military exercises. Possibly in an effort to curb soviet aggression in that region. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia has wanted to rebuild and unite the USSR. However the st