Warplanes of Russia: Mikoyan Gurevich, MiG-15, MiG-17F, MiG-19S, MiG-21D, MiG-23MLD, MiG-23MS, MiG-25RB, MiG-29A, National Museum of the USAF, Dayton, Ohio
Mikoyan Gurevich, MiG-15, MiG-17F, MiG-19S, MiG-21D, MiG-23MLD, MiG-23MS, MiG-25RB, MiG-29A, National Museum of the USAF, Dayton, Ohio
(NMUSAF Photos)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Fagot (Serial No. 2015357). The MiG-15 on display in the NMUSAF was flown by a defecting North Korean pilot to Kimpo Air Base in South Korea on 21 Sep 1953. The airplane provided important intelligence data, especially since it was the advanced version of the MiG-15. After considerable flight-testing, the USA offered to return the airplane to its "rightful owners." The offer was ignored, and in November 1957 it was transferred to the museum for public exhibition.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F Fresco C (Serial N. 3020), C/N 799. Egyptian Air Force. The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF was presented to the museum by the Egyptian Air Force in 1986 as a symbol of friendship and cooperation between the two nations. It is painted to represent a North Vietnamese Air Force (VPAF) MiG-17.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19S Farmer C (Serial No. 0138), Vietnam Air Force. The first Soviet production fighter capable of supersonic speeds in level flight, the prototype MiG-19 (NATO code-name "Farmer") made its first flight in September 1953. Entering production in 1955, it became the Soviet Union's primary fighter during the last half of the 1950s. Possibly as many as 10,000 MiG-19s, in various versions, were built by the Soviet Union, China, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Many other countries used the MiG-19, including Cuba, North Vietnam, North Korea, Iraq and most of the Warsaw Pact nations. The Soviet Union phased out the MiG-19 in the early 1960s in favor of the more advanced MiG-21, but other nations continued to use the MiG-19 for many more years. The NMUSAF's MiG-19S came from the 457th Technical Evaluation Squadron based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. It went on display in October 1994.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F-13 Fishbed (Serial No. 5063), C/N 506301, 60, 4128, Vietnam Air Force.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21D (MiG-21PF Fishbed (Serial No. 4128). In the Southeast Asia War, the MiG-21 was a dangerous adversary. Fast as US jets, it was more agile than the F-4 Phantom, its main opponent. Although American forces lost about 50 aircraft to North Vietnamese MiG-21s, the USAF shot down 68 MiG-21s in air combat. North Vietnam had more than 200 MiG-21s. The aircraft on display, a MiG-21PF, carried air-to-air missiles but no guns . It is painted to represent a plane from North Vietnam's elite 921st Fighter Regiment.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MLD Flogger K (Serial No. 44), ex-Soviet Air Force.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MS Flogger E (Serial No. 39). The MiG-23MS was designed for foreign export and was less capable than domestic Soviet versions. It was equipped with a less sophisticated radar housed in a smaller radome. First delivered in 1973, it was given the NATO code-name “Flogger-E.” More than 5,000 MiG-23s of all types were built. The US Air Force’s 4477th Test Squadron, the “Red Eagles,” flew this aircraft during Project Constant Peg. This highly classified program provided USAF, Navy, and Marine Corps fighter pilots with realistic combat training against then state-of-the-art Soviet technology. The MiG-23MS “Flogger-E” on display was declassified and transferred to the Museum in February 2017.
(Valder137 Photo)
(NMUSAF Photo)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25RB Foxbat (Serial No. 25108), ex-Iraqi Air Force.
(Ken LaRock, USAF Photos)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29A Fulcrum (Serial No. 2960516761), "Blue 08". The MiG-29 presented a formidable threat to Western pilots. The radars used on earlier Soviet fighters had been unable to distinguish aircraft flying below them from ground clutter, and low-flying aircraft could avoid detection. With the Phazotron NIIR N019 Doppler radar (NATO designation "Slot Back") capable of detecting a target more than 60 miles away, infrared tracking sensors, and a laser rangefinder carried on the MiG-29, a pilot could track and shoot at aircraft flying below him. Also, the pilot's Shchel-3UM-1 helmet-mounted aiming device turned the MiG-29 into a very dangerous threat once opponents came within visual range. No longer did a pilot have to turn his aircraft toward a target and wait for his missiles' sensors to "lock-on" before firing. Now, the pilot simply turned his head toward a target, and the helmet aimed the missile's sensors toward the target. This "off boresight" procedure gave the MiG-29 pilot a great advantage at close range. The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF is an early model Soviet Air Force MiG-29A that had been assigned to the 234th Gvardeiskii Istrebitelnii Aviatsionnii Polk (234th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment) stationed at Kubinka Air Base near Moscow. It was one of the six MiG-29s that made a good will visit to Kuopio-Rissala, Finland, in July 1986. This event marked the first public display of the MiG-29.
