Summary and Key Points: The Soviet-built MiG-23 “Flogger,” developed in the late 1960s, aimed to challenge Western air dominance with high-speed interception and multirole capabilities. Many experts considered it an awful fighter, being such a mistake that, according to many, the US Air Force had nothing like it.
-Featuring a variable-sweep wing for versatile performance, it nonetheless struggled with poor maneuverability, unreliable avionics, and limited radar effectiveness compared to NATO counterparts like the F-4 Phantom II and F-15 Eagle.
-Although faster than many rivals and effective as an interceptor, the MiG-23 prioritized affordability and mass production over advanced technology.
Why the Soviet MiG-23 Fell Short in the Cold War Sky
Ultimately, it represented Soviet Cold War strategy emphasizing numerical superiority rather than qualitative advantage, underscoring persistent technological gaps between Soviet and Western military aviation designs during the Cold War.
The Soviet-built MiG-23, also known as “Flogger” in NATO terminology, was introduced in the late 1960s as part of the Soviet Union’s effort to field a flexible and capable fighter in response to the rapidly evolving Western military aviation landscape.
Designed during the Cold War, the MiG-23 entered a battlefield environment that placed high value on high-speed interceptors and multirole fighters that could dominate both the air-to-air and the air-to-ground mission sets.
The MiG-23 was intended to fill the role of a front-line fighter and interceptor, replacing earlier models like the MiG-21.
With plans for mass production, the Soviet Union sought to deploy thousands of these aircraft to overwhelm NATO forces with sheer numbers.
The Design of This Cold War Fighter
The MiG-23 was a variable-sweep wing design, allowing it to change its wing shape for various flight profiles by opening and closing its wings; in essence optimizing lift and drag characteristics at different speeds.
While this innovation offered operational flexibility on paper, it was also a fairly complex design.
Compared to Western fighters like the F-4 Phantom II or later the F-15 Eagle, the MiG-23 had significant shortcomings in terms of maneuverability, onboard avionics, and overall reliability.
Its handling at low speeds was especially problematic, with an inherently unstable design that challenged even experienced Soviet pilots.
Avionics of MiG-23
The MiG-23’s avionics suite, although a not insignificant step up from earlier Soviet designs, was relatively lacking when compared to its contemporary Western counterparts.
Radar systems, such as the Sapfir-23, had limited detection and tracking capabilities, reducing the aircraft’s effectiveness in combat beyond visual range.
Despite these shortcomings, the MiG-23 did have some notable strengths. It was faster than a significant number of its contemporary fighters, with a top speed exceeding Mach 2.3.
This made it a decent interceptor platform. Compared to other Soviet aircraft of the era, such as the MiG-21, the MiG-23 offered improved range, payload capacity, and radar capabilities.
These attributes made it a valuable jet in certain specific roles, such as intercepting bombers or reconnaissance aircraft, where speed and altitude performance were of critical importance.
Production
The MiG-23 was relatively inexpensive and straightforward to produce in large, mass numbers, aligning with Soviet doctrine that prioritized quantity over individual aircraft quality. This would have allowed the Soviet Union to saturate potential war zones with many hundreds of MiG-23s, creating a significant offensive air presence, irrespective of the jets’s shortcomings.
The MiG-23 was an evolutionary step in Soviet fighter design, incorporating advanced features like variable-sweep wings and enhanced speed in order to excel as an interceptor and air-dominant fighter.
MiG-23 Image: Creative Commons.
But despite these aspirational design hopes, the jet fell short of comparative Western standards in terms of maneuverability, avionics, and missile technology, ultimately limiting the MiG-23’s effectiveness against superior adversaries.
While it outperformed earlier Soviet aircraft in range and payload and was in that regard a significant step up compared to earlier jet designs, it failed to close the qualitative gap with its NATO jet fighter counterparts.
Postscript for MiG-23 Fighter
The fighter highlighted the difficulties faced by Soviet aerospace designers in building a versatile and capable swing-wing fighter.
The jet’s successes and failures underscore the broader dynamics of the Cold War, where the West favored holding a qualitative edge over the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union hoped to achieve numerical, and ultimately operational, superiority over NATO through sheet numerical advantage.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
