MiG-23: historical and military analysis of a Soviet variable-geometry fighter, from its design to its operational record and its limitations in combat.
The MiG-23 occupies a special place in the history of Soviet military aviation. It is not just a successor to the MiG-21. It marks a change in the way the USSR designed its Soviet fighter aircraft at the height of the Cold War. The program was launched between 1964 and 1966, at a time when the MiG-21 remained fast and simple, but showed clear limitations in terms of range, payload capacity, all-weather interception, and operation from rudimentary runways. The MiG-23 made its first flight in 1967 and entered operational service in the early 1970s, between 1970 and 1971 according to sources.
The response from the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau was technical rather than doctrinal. The MiG-23 was equipped with a much more powerful engine than the MiG-21, a more sophisticated radar, a longer engagement range, and, above all, a variable-geometry wing. This choice was not insignificant. The USSR was seeking a compromise between two requirements that pulled the aircraft in opposite directions: good low-speed performance for takeoff, landing, and use on less prepared terrain, and high speed for interception. The variable wing allows this compromise to be adjusted according to the flight phase. This is the most recognizable feature of the Flogger, the NATO name for the MiG-23/27 family.
The MiG-23 must also be placed in the Soviet hierarchy. It is not a pure light fighter like the MiG-21, nor is it a heavy interceptor comparable to the MiG-25. It sits in the middle: more complex, more expensive, more versatile, but still compatible with mass production. This explains the volume produced: more than 5,000 units of all versions combined, according to the major American museums that preserve the aircraft. This figure is considerable for a variable-geometry fighter and clearly shows the importance of this type of aircraft in the Soviet forces, among the Warsaw Pact allies, and for export.
From the outset, the MiG-23 was not simply a transitional aircraft. It served to bring Soviet fighter aviation into a more modern segment: more autonomous interception, greater range, more flexible use, and the integration of avionics that paved the way for subsequent generations. However, its journey would be less linear than expected. The concept was sound on paper, but the aircraft required a level of development, maintenance, and training that not all user forces were able to master to the same degree. This is one of the reasons for its mixed reputation in military historiography.
The airframe and weapons system: a fast, responsive, and demanding formula
Technically, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 is based on a single-engine airframe with side air intakes, combined with a variable-geometry wing that can be adjusted in flight. The published positions for the MiG-23 are 16°, 45° and 72°. In the open position, the wing facilitates takeoff, landing and flight at lower speeds. In the intermediate position, it provides a compromise for combat or transit. In the fully closed position, it reduces drag for supersonic flight. This architecture allows the MiG-23 to maintain high speed while retaining adequate performance on runways shorter than those required by a fixed wing optimized solely for high Mach speeds.
The published data for a MiG-23MLD preserved at the Pima Air & Space Museum gives a useful order of magnitude: 17.31 m in length, 13.97 m in wingspan, 4.82 m in height, with a loaded mass of approximately 15,700 kg. The maximum speed indicated is 1,553 mph, or approximately 2,499 km/h, which corresponds to a range of around Mach 2.3 to 2.4 depending on altitude and version. The published service ceiling is approximately 18,500 m. The range shown on this sheet is approximately 917 km, but this should be interpreted with caution: in actual use, the distance that can be covered varies greatly depending on the profile, external load, and combat reserve.
The engine is another key point. American museum data sheets list the MiG-23MS as having a Tumansky R-29-300 engine with approximately 122.3 kN of thrust, and the MiG-23MLD as having an R-35-300 engine with approximately 127.7 kN of thrust. This thrust reserve places the MiG-23 in a much more powerful category than the MiG-21, especially in terms of acceleration and climb. However, this performance comes at a cost: high fuel consumption, sometimes brutal behavior depending on the flight envelope, and higher mechanical requirements.
The weapons system was also a significant leap forward for the Soviet era. Open sources note that the MiG-23 was one of the first Soviet fighters to incorporate a look-down/shoot-down radar, generally associated with the Sapfir family, and to be able to fire missiles beyond visual range.
The National Museum of the United States Air Force’s entry for the MiG-23MS mentions a 23 mm GSh-23L twin-barrel cannon and up to six air-to-air missiles, combining short-range infrared homing missiles and medium-range AA-7 Apex missiles. On paper, this is a real leap forward. In practice, effectiveness depends greatly on the version, the quality of the export or domestic radar, and above all on the skill of the crew and ground control. This is where the differences between theory and actual use become apparent.
Versions and operational uses: more than just an interceptor
Talking about the MiG-23 in the singular is useful for clarity, but technically, it should be considered as a family. The aircraft existed in a large number of sub-versions, and their actual level is not homogeneous. The basic interception versions, export versions, improved end-of-career versions, two-seater trainers, and ground attack derivatives form a broader group than the single name suggests. Open sources from the National Museum of the United States Air Force point out that the MiG-23/27 series served both as an interceptor and, depending on the variant, as a secondary or dedicated attack platform.
The MiG-23MS version, for example, is explicitly described as an export version with lower performance than Soviet aircraft intended for domestic use. It is equipped with a simpler radar, housed in a smaller radome. This point is crucial to understanding some of the harsh judgments made about the MiG-23 in foreign forces: many analyses conflate downgraded export aircraft with more advanced Soviet versions. However, a MiG-23MS delivered to a foreign customer in 1973 does not offer the same potential as a MiG-23MLD from the first half of the 1980s.
The MiG-23MLD, often described as the most advanced form of the Flogger, received aerodynamic, avionics, and weaponry upgrades. FAS sources and American museum records clearly identify it as the most advanced version of the line. In practice, this means a more credible aircraft by late Cold War Western standards, even if it remains outdated compared to the next generation of fighters designed around superior maneuverability and more integrated avionics, such as the MiG-29 or Su-27. The MiG-23MLD therefore served as a stage of maturity, not a definitive break.
The MiG-27 must also be included in ground attack. It is derived from the MiG-23, but with a much greater focus on ground attack. This clearly demonstrates the flexibility of the original airframe.
The USSR sought to develop a family of platforms covering interception, tactical support, and training from the same base. From an industrial standpoint, this made sense. From an operational standpoint, it resulted in a large fleet, but also in more maintenance than with a simpler aircraft.
Finally, the MiG-23 was exported widely to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. This distribution explains two things. On the one hand, it has been involved in a wide variety of conflicts. On the other hand, its reputation varies greatly from one theater to another. There can be a significant difference in performance between an aircraft maintained by a force governed by strict doctrine and an exported aircraft used under severe logistical constraints. This is why a uniform assessment of the MiG-23 often misses the point: its value depends greatly on the version, the context, and the support chain.
Combat record and legacy: an imperfect but important breakthrough fighter
The MiG-23 Flogger has seen actual combat, which allows it to be judged beyond technical brochures. It appears in several theaters of the Cold War and post-Cold War: the Middle East, Afghanistan, southern Africa, and various regional conflicts. Open documentation shows that it served in interception, escort, strike, and air policing roles, depending on the needs of the operators. This diversity of use is one of the airframe’s strengths, but it also exposed the aircraft to missions that did not always make the most of its primary qualities. A fast interceptor, designed for radar-guided and ground-controlled engagement, is not necessarily at its best in attrition missions, in austere terrain, with irregular technical support.
In the war in Afghanistan, open historical accounts indicate that the MiG-23 was used primarily for escort, patrol, and tactical support. A fact often repeated in this historiography is that escort and air-to-air patrol missions accounted for only a fraction of the total, around 15% of sorties in some documentary collections, with the rest mainly involving air-to-ground profiles. This tells us something important: despite its status as a fighter, the MiG-23 was often used as a multi-role platform in a conflict where the main threat did not always come from another combat aircraft.
Its evaluation by the United States is equally instructive. The National Museum of the United States Air Force notes that MiG-23MS aircraft were used by the 4477th Test Squadron, the “Red Eagles,” as part of Project Constant Peg. This is a significant point.
An aircraft that was studied, flown, and pitted against Western pilots in advanced training has concrete military value, not just symbolic value. If the US Air Force included the MiG-23 in this secret program, it was because it considered it a credible threat that needed to be understood in detail.
The historical assessment must therefore remain nuanced. The MiG-23 did not completely fulfill the implicit political promise of replacing the MiG-21 everywhere and for all uses. It is more complex, more demanding, and more expensive to maintain. Certain export versions have damaged its reputation. But to reduce it to an average aircraft would be a technical error. It introduced a useful combination to mass-produced Soviet fighters: high speed, variable-geometry wings, more ambitious radar, longer-range engagement, and a real capacity for growth up to the MiG-23MLD. In the history of military aviation, the MiG-23 remains less of an achievement than a decisive milestone: that of a transition from the light supersonic fighter of the early Cold War to the more integrated fighters of the next generation.
Sources
- National Museum of the United States Air Force, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MS “Flogger-E” fact sheet.
- National Museum of the United States Air Force, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MLD fact sheet.
- Federation of American Scientists, MiG-23 Flogger fact sheet.
- Pima Air & Space Museum, MiG-23MLD Flogger-K fact sheet.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, MiG-23 entry and summary of the MiG family.
- Summary of open historiography on the operational history of the MiG-23 (comparison benchmark, to be cross-referenced with institutional sources).
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