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Initial flight of the Aircraft 23-01 was on 3 April 1967, with Mikoyan OKB test pilot Piotr Ostapenko at the controls. Ostapenko had piloted the MiG-21 liftjet lashup the year before and found it
dreadful. The Aircraft 23-01 was no improvement, being particularly troublesome on landings -- afterburner had to be momentarily engaged to keep the aircraft flying right. The design also
suffered from the inherent flaw of liftjets: they were just so much dead weight once the machine was flying, and they took up space that could otherwise be used for fuel and warload. The
program was quickly abandoned, though not before the Aircraft 23-01 was publicly demonstrated at the 1968 Domodedovo air show, possibly as a ploy to confuse Western intelligence into
thinking it was a good idea. The type was assigned the appropriate NATO codename of "Faithless".
* In the meantime, work on the VG fighter prototype, "Aircraft 23-11", was moving forward, the machine performing its initial flight on 10 June 1967 with Mikoyan OKB chief test pilot
Alexander Fedotov at the controls. Like the Aircraft 23-01, the Aircraft 23-11 was powered by a Tumanskiy R-27-300 turbojet. During the initial flight, the wings were kept in the fully
sweptback 72-degree position at all times. On a flight on 9 July, Fedotov flew with the sweep varied from 72 degrees to the minimum of 16 degrees. It was also shown off at the 1968
Domodedovo air show, with NATO assigning the type the codename "Flogger".
The first prototype was followed by six more flight prototypes and two static-test prototypes. The type was approved for production as the "MiG-23", with manufacture at the Znamya Truda
("Banner of Labor") factory outside of Moscow, which would handle production of all the fighter Floggers. The first initial production "MiG-23S" took to the air on 21 May 1969, Fedotov once
again at the controls. When NATO became aware of the MiG-23S, it was assigned the codename of "Flogger-A".
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Early production retained the Sapfir-23L radar, but later production went to the Sapfir-23D and finally the definitive Sapfir-23D-III radar. Older aircraft with Sapfir-23D systems were brought up
to the Sapfir-23D-III spec. The Sapfir-23D-III was a pulse-Doppler set, which could pick up and engage targets flying low in "ground clutter" to hide. The "look-down shoot-down" capability
provided by the Sapfir-23D-III was badly needed by the VVS, and the MiG-23M was one of the first aircraft to give them it.
The Sapfir-23D radar finally allowed the MiG-23 to carry the new R-23R (NATO codename "AA-7 Apex") semi-active radar homing (SARH) missile, generally in a class with the US AIM-7
Sparrow AAM and providing the MiG-23 with a "beyond visual range (BVR)" interception capability. The similar R-23T with a heat-seeking head could be carried as well. A single R-23R/T
could be carried on each wing glove pylon. A single petite R-60 (NATO "AA-8 Aphid") heat-seeking dogfight AAM could be carried on each fuselage pylon; a dual stores rack was introduced
later to double carriage of R-60s. The MiG-23M could carry offensive stores such as rocket pods or bombs, and could be fitted with a special adapter on a fuselage stores pylon for a tactical
nuclear store.
The MiG-23M also was fitted with the Lasour-SMA automated datalink guidance system, an improved derivative of the Lasour-1 datalink introduced on the MiG-21 interceptor series. The
Lasour-SMA was integrated with the Vozdukh-1M ground-controlled intercept (GCI) network. The pilot still flew the aircraft but kept on climb and course headings as provided over the datalink.
The directions were provided by indicators on a special dashboard panel under the HUD / gunsight, backed up by audio cues for the pilot to engage afterburner, perform a missile launch, and so
on. The datalink was jam-resistant and allowed a MiG-23 to vector in on a target over the fastest trajectory. If the terminal attack was performed with the IRST and an R-23T heat-seeking
AAM, the target might never see the attack coming.
Although the MiG-23M was a substantial improvement over its predecessors, it still left something to be desired. The problems with the complexity of the aircraft, which strained the abilities of
aircrews and ground crews, lingered, as did the lack of agility, nasty handling characteristics at high AOA, and the tendency to suffer flameouts after launching AAMs from the fuselage racks.
The wing pivot mechanism was weak and imposed limits on maneuvers. Still, if the MiG-23M wasn't very maneuverable it was fast, and its modern radar and modern AAMs were sorely needed
by the VVS; as an interceptor, it could do the job very well even if it wasn't much of a dogfighter. Later production included a much improved wing pivot mechanism and an auxiliary control
system for dealing with the high AOA problems.
* A "MiG-23MF" variant with downgraded avionics was built for the export market, with NATO also assigning the type the codename of "Flogger-B". Warsaw Pact MiG-23MFs were very close
to MiG-23M standard, but a somewhat further downgraded pattern of MiG-23MF -- with some features left off the Sapfir radar and so on -- was supplied to Cuba, India, and Syria.
A still further downgraded variant, the "MiG-23MS", was supplied to Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. It featured the RP-22SM radar from the MiG-21S and lacked the IRST. The
RP-22SM radar was accommodated in a visibly shorter radome. The MiG-23MS couldn't fire the latest AAMs, being limited to the R-3S / R-13M "Atoll" and R-3R "Advanced Atoll". The type
was assigned the distinct NATO codename of "Flogger-F". Total production of the MiG-23M/MF/MS was about 1,300 aircraft.
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spec
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metric
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english
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wingspan (open)
wingspan (closed)
wing area (open)
wing area (closed)
length with probe:
height
13.97 meters
7.78 meters
37.27 sq_meters
34.16 sq_meters
16.71 meters
4.82 meters
45 feet 10 inches
25 feet 6 inches
401 sq_feet
368 sq_feet
54 feet 10 inches
15 feet 10 inches
empty weight
normal loaded weight
MTO weight
10,230 kilograms
14,770 kilograms
17,800 kilograms
22,560 pounds
32,570 pounds
39,250 pounds
2,500 KPH
18,600 meters
1,450 kilometers
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Although some of the structural weaknesses of the wing box system lingered in early MiG-23ML production, later production featured a stronger box, and with the introduction of improved flight
control technology -- such as a "stick pusher" that restricted the aircraft's AOA -- the MiG-23ML eliminated the worst handling problems, though some restrictions remained. VVS pilots felt
confident that they could outfly US Phantoms. The new General Dynamics F-16 and McDonnell-Douglas F-15 were tougher customers; the F-16 was seen as an even match, but in a
one-on-one fight the MiG-23ML was seen as being well at a disadvantage against an F-15.
* The MiG-23ML was quickly followed in production by the "MiG-23MLA", which was identical in terms of its airframe and engine but featured a better avionics suite. Its centerpiece was a
modestly improved Sapfir-23MLA radar, with incremental enhancements in range, reliability, and electronic counter-countermeasures capability. The updated radar also was able to operate on
different bands, allowing multiple MiG-23MLAs flying together to use their radars without interference. In addition, the MiG-23MLA supported the new R-24R and R-24T AAMs, which were
enhanced derivatives of the R-23R and R-23T respectively. The new AAMs had improved seeker systems, better aerodynamics and maneuverability, longer range, and a heavier warhead. They
retained the NATO codename of "AA-7 Apex". An improved R-60 / AA-8 Aphid variant, the "R-60M", with a better seeker, was also introduced.
Initial flight of the MiG-23MLA was in 1977, with the variant going into production in 1978. It retained the NATO codename of "Flogger-G". Export versions were shipped from 1981, replacing
the MiG-23MF and MiG-23MS on the export production line. Warsaw Pact countries obtained a slightly detuned MiG-23MLA variant, while other Soviet client states featured a more
substantially stripped-down variant. About a thousand MiG-23MLs and MiG-23MLAs were built.
* The Soviet Union had an entirely separate military service, the "Protivo Vozdusdushnoi Oborony (PVO / Homeland Air-Defense Organization)" to operate radar networks, surface-to-air
missiles (SAMs), and interceptors to deal with airborne intruders. The PVO operated the MiG-19P/PM and Sukhoi Su-9/11 interceptors well into the 1970s, but by the end of the decade these
aircraft were showing their age, and a better solution was required.
The MiG-23ML was very attractive, its good performance and BVR look-down / shoot-down missile capability being exactly what the PVO needed, while its deficiencies in maneuverability were
not a major concern in the pure interceptor role. The PVO was strongly oriented towards automated CGI operations, and so the service obtained a variant of the MiG-23ML with appropriately
optimized avionics, designated the "MiG-23P" -- the "P" standing for "perekvatchik (interceptor)". Once again, it retained the NATO codename of "Flogger-G".
The primary change was the incorporation of an SAU-23P autopilot / flight control system, which was integrated with a Lasour-M GCI datalink to permit intercepts almost completely under
ground control, the pilot only handling the throttle as instructed by the system. At least 500 MiG-23Ps were built for the PVO from 1978 into 1981, and the type became a mainstay of the Soviet
interceptor force in the 1980s. Upgrades were provided in service to support the R-24R/T and R-60M AAMs.
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* Although no new-build MiG-23MLDs were obtained by Soviet forces, MiG-23MLDs were manufactured for export. They weren't really kitted to the same standard, featuring the improved
avionics of the Soviet MiG-23MLD but not the aerodynamic improvements. 16 of these machines, with avionics effectively matching the Soviet MiG-23MLD, were supplied to Bulgaria, with up
to 50 machines featuring somewhat detuned avionics supplied to Syria. They were codenamed "Flogger-G" by NATO, being hard to tell from the MiG-23ML/MLA.
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three Iranian Phantoms and two Northrop F-5E Tiger IIs, but the MiG-23s were thoroughly intimidated by Iranian Grumman F-14A Tomcats, as well they might be -- the Tomcat' s long-range
radar and Phoenix AAMs could pick off the MiG-23s before they even knew a Tomcat was around. Iranian Tomcat pilots also claimed they could fly rings around the MiG-23 in close combat.
During the 1982 "turkey shoot" over the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, Israeli fighters claimed dozens of kills against their Syrian opponents, with a MiG-23s making up most of the victims. Later in
the decade, MiG-23s flown by Angola did claim kills against South African Dassault Mirage F1s, as well as a number of less formidable South African opponents -- though they suffered losses of
their own as well.
Libyan MiG-23s kept busy, initially during border disputes with Egypt in the late 1970s, with both sides claiming a few kills. On 16 September 1980, a number of Libyan MiG-23s attacked a US
Air Force Boeing RC-135U aircraft and damaged it before being driven off by US Navy fighters. This was one of the opening shots of what would prove to be a decade-long sequence of
squabbles between the Americans and the Libyans. The Americans had the last word as far as the MiG-23 was concerned: on 4 January 1989, two US Navy F-14A Tomcats took on two Libyan
MiG-23 fighters and blew them out of the sky.
Iraqi MiG-23s also fared poorly in the Gulf War, with a few shot out of the sky by Coalition fighters, but many more destroyed on the ground. They apparently lingered in service up to the
invasion of Iraq by the Americans and British in 2003.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the VVS MiG-23 fighter fleet was drastically cut, the service preferring to preserve scarce resources by focusing on twin-engine fighters like the MiG-29 and
Sukhoi Su-27. The MiG-23 still persists in foreign service.
* MiG-23s were occasionally used for test and trials of improved flight control systems, avionics, and the latest missiles. One was even fitted with "radar absorbing materials" for experiments in
"stealth" operation.
In the late 1990s, the Mikoyan organization promoted upgrades of existing MiG-23s still in service with foreign operators, on the belief that the large numbers of MiG-23s still flying represented a
profitable market for such a program. The "MiG-23-98" upgrade packages offered a menu of such goodies as a partial "glass cockpit", improved Sapfir radar or new Moskit radar, a
comprehensive modern countermeasures suite, and other avionics updates. They would be able to support the latest AAMs, including the R-77 (NATO AA-12 Adder) BVR AAM, sometime
referred to as the "AMRAAMSki" because it matches the capability though not the configuration of the US AIM-120 AMRAAM; and the R-27R1 (NATO AA-10 Alamo) heatseeking dogfighting
AAM, associated with the Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum. Surface attack capability would also be enhanced with new targeting systems and weapons.
The idea that there was a big market for MiG-23 upgrades proved an illusion. Nobody bit and the MiG-23-98 went absolutely nowhere. The problem was that most MiG-23 users were too
strapped for cash to afford an upgrade with all the latest gadgetry. So far, there has been little evidence of users willing to spend much money to keep their MiG-23s in service.