Attack & Trainer Floggers

v1.0.5 / chapter 2 of 2 / 01 jan 15 / greg goebel / public domain

* Along with the fighter MiG-23s, a sequence of attack variants, culminating in the MiG-27 series, was built as well and proved successful. Since handling a variable-geometry aircraft was tricky,
a two-seat conversion trainer, the "MiG-23UB", was also built in substantial numbers.

[2.1] ATTACK FLOGGER ORIGINS / MIG-23B FLOGGER-F, MIG-23BN FLOGGER-H

[2.2] MIG-27 FLOGGER-D
[2.3] MIG-27K FLOGGER-J2 / MIG-27M & MIG-27D FLOGGER-J
[2.4] ATTACK FLOGGER IN SERVICE
[2.5] MIG-23B, MIG-23UB, & MIG-23UM FLOGGER-C TRAINER
[2.6] COMMENTS, SOURCES, & REVISION HISTORY

[2.1] ATTACK FLOGGER ORIGINS / MIG-23B FLOGGER-F, MIG-23BN FLOGGER-H

* The development of the MiG-23 fighter was paralleled by work on an attack aircraft based on much the same technology. In the 1960s, the primary attack aircraft of the VVS-FA were the
Mikoyan MiG-17, built as an air-superiority fighter but shifted to the attack role later in its life, and the Sukhoi Su-7B, the USSR's first production purpose-built jet attack aircraft. The MiG-17
was old news by the late 1960s and the Su-7B was a disappointment -- in practice, the MiG-17 turned out to be a more effective strike aircraft.
A state requirement was issued for a new jet attack aircraft, with proposals from the Sukhoi and Mikoyan OKBs selected from a wide range of submissions. The Sukhoi effort emerged as the
Su-17, essentially a much improved, VG version of the Su-7B, discussed elsewhere. The Mikoyan OKB had considered a number of different concepts for their submission, finally deciding that
the fastest, cheapest, and most effective way to go was to develop an attack variant of the MiG-23 fighter, then in the works. The concept was designated "MiG-23Sh", where "Sh" stood for
"shturmovik (storm bird)", the traditional Soviet name for an attack aircraft.
The fourth Aircraft 23-11 prototype was actually intended as a trials machine for the MiG-23Sh, carrying a hefty bombload on its four stores pylons. The trials with this prototype demonstrated
clear inadequacies, but the exercise was useful since it revealed the need to improve pilot field of view, increase engine power, and provide more robust landing gear. A mockup of a more
optimized aircraft was presented to VVS brass in late 1969, leading to approval of further development in early 1970. The aircraft finally emerged as the "MiG-23B" prototype, where "B" stood
for "bombardirovshtik (bomber)", the first machine performing its initial flight on 18 February 1971, with Alexander Fedotov at the controls.
Externally, the MiG-23B was along the lines of an early-development MiG-23 fighter, with the early "Edition 1" wings but the set-back tailfin, mated to a new nose without radar and sloped
down to give a good forward view. The new nose suggested that of the Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar attack aircraft, the MiG-23B's closest Western counterpart. The MiG-23B was fitted with
a different engine, the Lyulka AL-21F-300, providing a dry thrust of 76.5 kN (7,800 kgp / 17,200 lbf) and an afterburning thrust of 110 kN (11,200 kgp / 24,700 lbf). The AL-21F was designed
for the Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft and was said to have been based on the General Electric J79 turbojet, samples of that engine having been obtained from US F-4 Phantoms shot down over
North Vietnam. A MiG-23 fighter prototype was fitted with an AL-21F as an engine demonstrator in 1970. Internal fuel capacity relative to the MiG-23S was increased by adding two more
fuselage fuel tanks, giving a total internal fuel load of 5,750 liters (1,517 US gallons).
The cockpit featured armor glass and steel armor panels alongside the cockpit, plus heavy aluminum belly panels to protect the engine. The fuel tanks featured an inert gas system to prevent the
fuel from catching fire if the tanks were hit. The general landing gear scheme of the MiG-23S was retained, but the assemblies were more robust to handle higher weights, and low-pressure tires
were used to permit rough-field operation.
The MiG-23B featured a comprehensive Sokol-23S navigation-attack system, integrating a Fon laser rangefinder / marked target seeker (LRMTS) system in the nose; an ASP-17 reflector sight
for level and dive attacks; a PBK-3 toss-bombing sight; the aircraft flight control system; and the aircraft navigation system, which incorporated a gyrocompass, Doppler radar, radar altimeter,
radio direction finder, and radio navigation system receiver. The navigation system was linked to the autopilot to permit the aircraft to follow a simple preprogrammed flight path. The MiG-23B
also featured a Siren-FSh ("Siren" translating as "lilac", incidentally) radio frequency (RF) jammer to deal with the fire-control radars of Western SAMs and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), as well as
a Sirena-10M RWR -- not to be confused with the Siren jammer.
The GSh-23L twin-barreled cannon was retained, but an extra set of stores attachments were placed on the rear fuselage, each capable of mounting a rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO) unit or a
bomb of up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds) weight. Total external load was up to 3,000 kilograms; a centerline tank was usually carried, with the stereotypical offensive stores arrangement being
four 16-round or 32-round 57-millimeter rocket packs -- one on each wing glove pylon and on each forward fuselage pylon. Heavier-caliber rockets were also possible stores: 20-round packs of
85 millimeter rockets, five-round packs of 122 millimeter rockets, or individual 240 millimeter rockets. There were a wide range of "dumb bomb" configurations.
Cannon pods, each with a GSh-23L cannon, could also be carried on the wing glove pylons. Pictures exist showing carriage of an R-13S / AA-2 Atoll AAM on each wing glove pylon, but a more
typical defensive armament arrangement included four R-60 / AA-8 Aphid AAMs -- mounted with a dual stores rack on each wing glove pylon or on the forward fuselage pylons, but not on both
the wing glove pylons and the forward fuselage pylons.
The MiG-23B could carry the Kh-23 (NATO AS-7 Kerry) ASM -- a primitive guided weapon, controlled by "eyeball" over a datalink, comparable to the US Bullpup ASM -- on the wing glove
pylons. The Delta-N radio link antenna was fitted in a small pod on the leading edge of the right wing glove. The MiG-23B also had a nuclear strike capability, carrying a tactical nuclear store on
a reinforced forward fuselage pylon.
The initial prototype of the MiG-23B didn't quite have all the pieces of the Sokol-23S nav-attack system. The second two prototypes did, and also featured the Edition 2 wing, with the dogtooth
but no leading-edge flaps. Trials were complete in 1972, with the variant going into production at the Znamya Truda plant late in that year. Only about two dozen were built, about half serving as
evaluation aircraft. NATO assigned this variant the codename of "Flogger-F".
* Since priority for the AL-21F-300 engine went to the Su-24 and the Su-17 strike fighter -- and it was expensive in any case -- Mikoyan engineers quickly obtained an alternative powerplant, the
R-29B-300 afterburning turbojet, a variant of the Tumanskiy R-29-series specifically optimized by the Soyuz design bureau for the MiG-23 attack variant. Thrust ratings were 77 kN (7,850 kgp /
17,310 lbf) dry and 122 kN (10,600 kgp / 23,370 lbf) afterburning. Specific fuel consumption was higher than for the AL-21F-300, but the R-27F2M-300 was designed for the role, being
optimized for low-level subsonic operation, with a noticeably short two-position exhaust nozzle. The engine was relatively cheap and easy to maintain, all the more so because of its similarity to
R-29 engines used on MiG-23 fighter variants.
The new attack variant with the R-29B-300 engine was designated the "MiG-23BN"; since the short exhaust made it easy to distinguish from the MiG-23B, NATO assigned the MiG-23BN the
new designation of "Flogger-H". It was otherwise very much like the MiG-23B, though it did feature a slightly improved Sokol-23N nav-attack system, as well as a rear-view mirror. The

MiG-23BN went into production in 1973 at Znamya Truda. Early production suffered from some of the airframe weaknesses of early MiG-23 fighter production, but late production machines
were generally robust -- a particularly important characteristic in a "mudfighter". In service, VVS pilots called the machine the "Utkonos (Duckbill)" or "Krokodil Gena (Crocodile Gena)", after a
popular cartoon character.
About 624 MiG-23BNs were built into 1985, though only about a hundred served with the VVS-FA, with the rest exported. (One of the other reasons for abandoning the Al-21-series engine was
that it was secret and couldn't be exported.) Warsaw Pact countries got an "A" subvariant, which was almost identical to VVS machines, even retaining nuclear strike capability; they were
provided to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany. Other users got a "B" version, missing countermeasures gear and with generally downgraded avionics; it was provided to Algeria, Cuba,
Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
India was a particularly enthusiastic operator, with the Indian Air Force (IAF) obtaining 95 MiG-23BNs. A number were assigned to the defense-suppression role, carrying a variety of
Soviet-built ARMs; some others were used in the tactical reconnaissance role, carrying the British-built Red Baron reconnaissance pod.
The Iraqis obtained 80 and fitted some of them with fixed, nose-mounted midair refueling probes -- like those on Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighters, possibly using the same hardware -- for
long-range strikes during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. The Iraqis even fitted the French ATLIS laser targeting pod to their MiG-23BNs to guide the Kh-29L (NATO AS-14 "Kedge") laserguided ASM.
BACK_TO_TOP

[2.2] MIG-27 FLOGGER-D

* The reason the VVS only obtained a relatively small number of MiG-23BNs was because the service then quickly obtained a substantially more optimized derivative -- originally designated the
"MiG-23BM" but introduced into service as the "MiG-27".
The MiG-27 retained the R-29B-300 engine of the MiG-23BN but deleted the variable engine intake ramps found on the MiG-23 fighters and the MiG-23B/BN. A less prominent "splitter plate",
intended to prevent the ingestion of turbulent and stagnant "boundary layer" hugging the fuselage, replaced the old intake ramps. The new intake scheme limited performance to a maximum of
Mach 1.7, but that wasn't regarded as much of an issue for a tactical attack aircraft, and the change helped reduce weight -- a total of 300 kilograms (660 pounds) was shaved off through that
and other tricks -- and simplified maintenance. The landing gear was strengthened once again, as were the stores pylons, permitting a maximum external load of 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds).
The forward fuselage pylons were moved to under the engine intakes. Unguided rocket pods remained an important weapon. Dumb bomb configurations featured considerable variety:
Each wing glove pylon could carry a single napalm tank; two FAB-500 500 kilogram (1,100 pound) bombs in tandem; or four FAB-250 250 kilogram (550 pound) bombs on 2 x 2 stores
rack; or six FAB-100 100 kilogram (220 pound) bombs on a 2 x 3 stores rack.
Each forward fuselage pylon could carry a single napalm tank; one FAB-500 bomb; two FAB-250 bombs in tandem; or four FAB-100 bombs on a 2 x 2 stores rack. Apparently the
repositioning of the forward pylons was to permit use of the multiple stores racks.
The centerline pylon usually carried an external tank, but it also could carry a FAB-500 or smaller bomb. The rear stores pylons rarely carried anything but a single FAB-250 or FAB-100
bomb each.
The radio guidance system for the Kh-23 / AS-7 Kerry ASM was retained, though it was improved to the Delta-NM variant, which automated some of the guidance workload. A gun camera was
fitted in a pod on the left wing glove, matching the pod for the Delta-NM on the other wing glove.
The GSh-23L two-barreled cannon was traded out for a six-barreled Gatling-type GSh-6-30 30 millimeter cannon, with a rate of fire of 5,000 rounds per minute, substantially greater than that of
the GSh-23L, and an ammunition supply of 300 rounds crammed into the center fuselage. It was tilted off the centerline by 1.3 degrees, apparently to reduce nose pitch-up on firing.
The GSh-6-30 cannon had much greater killing power GSh-23L in principle; it was the Soviet answer to the US GAU-8 Avenger 30-millimeter Gatling of the Fairchild A-10 tank-buster aircraft.
To no surprise, the GSh-6-30 had hefty recoil and its integration with the MiG-27 proved troublesome -- in fact, it would always be somewhat troublesome. Incidentally, although the Gatling
seems like a distinctly American weapon, the Soviets were perfectly familiar with it, since copies of the original 19th-century Gatling had been built in Tsarist Russia as the "Gorshov gun".
The avionics suite featured a new PRnK-23 nav-attack system, with digital instead of analog computing elements, providing much more precise targeting than the older Sokol-23S nav-attack
system and greatly reducing pilot workload. Pilot data was provided on an ASP-17VG-1 HUD / gunsight. Other avionics remained the same, except for a six-round upward-firing chaff-flare
dispenser installed in each wing glove.
Initial flight of the first MiG-27 was on 17 November 1972, with Valeriy Menitskiy at the controls. This machine was powered by an Al-21F-300 engine. Serial production began in late 1973 at
state factory GAZ-124 in Irkutsk in Siberia. The MiG-27 went into VVS-FA service in 1975, to be given the NATO designation of "Flogger-D". 360 MiG-27s were built into 1977.
BACK_TO_TOP

[2.3] MIG-27K FLOGGER-J2 / MIG-27M & MIG-27D FLOGGER-J

* The MiG-27 was followed in production by the "MiG-27K", initially known as the "MiG-27BK". It was essentially the same as the MiG-27 -- same general airframe, engine, Gatling cannon -except for a substantially updated avionics suite:
A new PrNK-23SK nav-attack system, featuring more digital computer processing power, and in particular a Kaira-23 laser target designator. While most Western laser target designators
feature a turreted design, the Kaira-23 was fitted into the nose, replacing the Fon LRMTS. The pilot would lock onto a target and then launch, with the Kaira-23 automatically keeping
the laser on target without further pilot intervention.
An improved SPO-15L Beryoza RWR replacing the older Sirena unit, with distinctive antennas fitted as small leading-edge root extensions on the wing gloves. The antennas actually
improved aircraft handling at high AOA. Early MiG-27Ks had the antennas in the lower engine intake lips.
An improved Siren jammer. A MiG-27K could be fitted with one of three different jammers -- SPS-141, SPS-142, or SPS-143 -- with each covering a different band. A set of
MiG-27Ks sent out on a strike mission would in principle carry all three of jammers to permit wideband coverage. The Siren jammers featured a distinctive "pimple" on the nose of the
aircraft.
New navigation and landing aids, radios, radar altimeter, flight data recorder, and automatic flight control system. Dashboard instrumentation was improved as well, and the HUD was
updated to an IPP-2-53 unit.
The laser / camera targeting system permitted carriage of new laser-guided precision weapons -- the KAB-500L 500 kilogram (1,100 pound) laser guided bomb (LGB), as well as the Kh-25ML
(NATO AS-10 Karen) and later Kh-29L (NATO AS-14 Kedge) laser-guided ASMs -- and electro-optic-guided precision weapons -- the KAB-500Kr electro-optic guided bomb (EOGB) and the
Kh-29T / AS-14 Kedge electro-optic guided ASM. A Vyuga emitter targeting pod could be carried on the right forward fuselage pylon to permit targeting of the Kh-25MP (NATO AS-12 Kegler)
anti-radar missile (ARM) and its improved Kh-27PS follow-on.

Other than the improved avionics, the MiG-27K looked much like the MiG-27, the only major external difference being a slightly more cluttered nose, with the pimple on top for the Siren
jammer. In addition, while the MiG-27 had featured a pitot tube on the upper left side of the nose, in the MiG-27K the pitot tube was moved to the bottom left side of the nose, and an
instrument landing system (ILS) antenna was fitted on the other side in parallel. The new avionics meant a substantial increase in aircraft weight, and so the scabbed-on armor alongside the
cockpit was removed, the notion being that the increased use of stand-off weapons reduced the need for pilot protection. In the 1980s, combat in Afghanistan would suggest that notion was
unrealistic, and the armor would be added back to MiG-27Ks serving in that theater. The Delta-NM and gun camera pods were deleted from the wing gloves; the old Kh-23 radio-guided ASM
could still be carried using a pod carried on an underwing pylon.
* Initial flight of the MiG-27K prototype was on 30 December 1974, with Aviard Fastonetz at the controls. The avionics suite was sophisticated and development was protracted, with the type
finally accepted into VVS service in 1980, with 197 built at the Irkutsk plant. An unarmed reconnaissance derivative, the "MiG-27R" -- with film cameras in the nose, infrared line scanner and
electronic intelligence packages behind the cockpit, and the capability of carrying a side-looking airborne radar pod -- was proposed but not built. The MiG-27K was assigned the NATO
codename of "Flogger-J2", which leads to the question of what the "Flogger-J" was.
As it turned out, the Flogger-J was actually derived from the Flogger-J2. Concerns over the complexity of the MiG-27K led to the development of a simpler variant, the "MiG-27M", which would
receive the Flogger-J codename. It retained much of the MiG-27K's gadgetry, including the Beryoza RWR and Siren jammer, but featured a cheaper and less sophisticated PrNK-23M nav-attack
suite, built around the Klyon-PM laser designator and rangefinder.

The MiG-27M could carry all the "smart" munitions carried by the MiG-27K except for the KAB-500L LGB. The MiG-27M was very hard to tell from a MiG-27K, except for the fact that the
pitot tube and ILS antenna were moved from under the nose to the top. Initial flight of the first MiG-27M, a converted MiG-27, was in April 1976, and the type went into production in 1978 at a
plant in Ulan Ude in Siberia. 162 Soviet-built MiG-27Ms were delivered into 1982.

MIKOYAN MIG-27M "FLOGGER-J":

_____________________
_________________

_______________________

spec
_____________________

metric
_________________

english
_______________________

wingspan (open)
wingspan (closed)
wing area (open)
wing area (closed)
length with probes:
height

13.97 meters
7.78 meters
37.27 sq_meters
34.16 sq_meters
17.14 meters
5 meters

45 feet 10 inches
25 feet 6 inches
401 sq_feet
368 sq_feet
56 feet 3 inches
16 feet 5 inches

empty weight
normal loaded weight
MTO weight

11,908 kilograms
18,100 kilograms
20,500 kilograms

26,257 pounds
39,910 pounds
45,200 pounds

max speed at altitude

service ceiling
range (clean)
_____________________

1,885 KPH
15,600 meters
1,800 kilometers
_________________

1,170 MPH / 1,020 KT

51,200 feet
1,120 MI / 975 NMI
_______________________

* That seems like a relatively small quantity, but from 1982 the decision was made to upgrade most of the MiG-27 fleet to MiG-27M standard. The upgrade was designated "MiG-27D" -- with
"D" for "dorabotanniy (improved)" -- and about 300 conversions were performed into 1989. The MiG-27Ds were identical to the MiG-27Ms except for a slightly improved navigation system, but
they were preferred to the MiG-27Ms because the factory at Irkutsk that built the MiG-27s had noticeably better production quality than the Ulan Ude plant.
* Although most export attack Floggers were MiG-23BNs, the MiG-27M was license-built by one user, the Indian Air Force (IAF). A deal for production at Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL)
was signed in the mid-1980s, with the first HAL machine, assembled from a knockdown kit supplied by the Irkutsk plant, performing its initial flight on 11 January 1986. A total of 165 HAL
MiG-27Ms -- sometimes referred to with the designation of "MiG-27ML" -- were delivered into 1996, the first 50 being built from subassemblies provided by Irkutsk and the rest with increasing

local content. They featured a downgraded avionics suite, with some IAF-specified kit. They were the last MiG-23/27s to be built.
BACK_TO_TOP

[2.4] ATTACK FLOGGER IN SERVICE

* Although getting the fighter MiG-23s up to operational spec proved to be something of a trial, the attack MiG-23/27 appears to have matured fairly quickly. It was regarded as a sturdy and
capable aircraft, with a very good availability rate and pleasantly low accident rate. In service, it was generally painted with disruptive camouflage topside and light blue-gray underneath.
Combat service of the MiG-27 with the VVS was very limited. The main "mudfighter" in the Afghan war was the Sukhoi Su-17, and nobody saw good reason to complicate logistics by
introducing a different type. The MiG-27 was finally deployed to Afghanistan in 1988, with a single air regiment stocked with 36 MiG-27Ms and 4 MiG-23UB two-seaters sent to Shinand Air
Base, as something of a combat evaluation program. The MiG-27Ms were generally used in high-altitude bombing attacks up to the withdrawal of Soviet forces in early 1989. The conclusion of
the tour was that the MiG-27 was reliable and its cockpit armor very much an asset, but that it was overkill in terms of its ability to carry warload and its technical sophistication -- strike missions
by all attack fighters in the theater rarely carried more than about 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of ordnance, and smart munitions were rarely needed or used. The Su-17 could handily do the
job.
The MiG-27's GSh-6-30 cannon didn't prove particularly useful in practice. It was an impressive weapon in principle, with awesome hitting power and a thunderous sound described as more
"felt" than "heard", but the recoil -- about 5.5 tonnes (6.05 tons) -- still had a tendency to inflict damage on the aircraft. The rate of fire was reduced to 4,000 rounds a minute but it didn't help
much. Landing lights almost always broke after firing, so on weapons training flights the lights were simply pulled out and the sockets capped off; landings at night after such flights had to be
made on floodlit runways. Firing more than about 30 rounds in a burst was asking for trouble from overheating and "cooking off" of rounds in the firing chamber. The weapon was a maintenance
hog, in particular being prone to corrosion. It seems that the GSh-30 twin-barreled 30 millimeter cannon, used on the Sukhoi Su-25 close-support aircraft, might have been a better fit.
Since the MiG-23BN was a popular export machine, it saw plenty of combat service in foreign air arms, fighting for the pro-Soviet Afghan, Libyan, Algerian, and Angolan governments -- with
the Angolans initially using Cuban pilots and later mercenaries. The Iraqis were particularly enthusiastic users of the type, flying it in attacks against Kurdish insurgents during the 1970s and
against the Iranians in the next decade. The Indian Air Force has used their attack Floggers in the fighting with separatists in the provinces of Jammu & Kashmir, with one lost in an accident. The
IAF finally phased the MiG-23BN out in 2009.
Some MiG-27s were used for trials in the 1980s, for example one fitted with an arresting hook to investigate carrier landing system technology -- though it was used for ground tests only,
snagging a cable after a fast taxi. There was an idea to develop a MiG-23 carrier fighter, but it didn't happen. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the VVS MiG-27 fleet was retired in the
early 1990s as an economy measure, the service intending to standardize on the Sukhoi Su-24 and Su-25 for the attack role. Some have questioned the wisdom of this decision, claiming the
MiG-27 was a highly cost-effective strike platform, but in any case the MiG-27s ended up being scrapped or rotting away off the flight line.
A number of post-Soviet states inherited MiG-27s after the breakup of the USSR, with Kazakhstan using the type as a day fighter, armed with R-60M / AA-8 Aphid AAMs. The Ukraine ended
up with about 49 MiG-27s; they didn't fly in Ukrainian service, but seven were sold to Sri Lanka in 2000:2001, the sales package even including Ukrainian pilots to fly them. The MiG-27s were
promptly put into service fighting Tamil Tiger insurgents. One MiG-27 was destroyed in a ground attack in 2001, with two others lost in accidents.
Attack Floggers have been evaluated by Western air forces. The US bought a set of MiG-23BNs from Egypt in the early 1980s and used them for flight evaluation and in "dissimilar air combat
training (DACT)". A Cuban pilot defected to Florida in a MiG-23BN in 1991; the fate of this aircraft is unclear.
* In the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, in the late 1990s the Mikoyan organization promoted a package of upgrades for export MiG-23BNs or other attack Floggers, featuring improved
engines, new avionics, improved cockpit, and compatibility with the latest weapons. Nobody seemed interested. However, in 1999 the IAF initiated an upgrade program for their relatively
youthful MiG-27Ms, with the upgrade performed by HAL in collaboration with the Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) in Bangalore. The initial contract specified the upgrade of
40 machines, with as many as 135 to be updated eventually.
The upgrade featured a "service life extension program (SLEP)" to keep the airframe in flightworthy condition to 2020. Most of the work focused on improved avionics, including;
A new processor, based on the "Core Avionics Computer" also used on Indian Sukhoi Su-30MKIs and SEPECAT Jaguars.
Israeli Elbit HUD, digital map system, video recorder, and flight planning system.
Dual color multifunction displays from Sagem of France, as well as a Sagem navigation system with a Global Positioning System (GPS) navsat receiver and ring laser gyros.
Indian-supplied secure communications, backup radios, and radio altimeter.
Compatibility with the Israeli Rafael Litening targeting pod.
Improved engines were considered but not incorporated into the upgrade. The improved MiG-27M is compatible with a wide range of the latest Western smart munitions, as well as the Vinten
VICON 18 reconnaissance pod. Initial flight was on 25 March 2004, with Group Captain Ashit Mehta at the controls. Initial redelivery to the IAF was in 2006, with upgrades of the batch of 40
completed by the beginning of 2009.
BACK_TO_TOP

[2.5] MIG-23B, MIG-23UB, & MIG-23UM FLOGGER-C TRAINER

* At the outset of the MiG-23 program, the need was recognized for a two-seat dual-control machine to train pilots in the art of flying a VG fighter. Development of the two-seater was authorized
in late 1967, with the first "MiG-23U" performing its initial flight on 10 April 1970, with Mikhail Komarov at the controls.
The prototype was essentially a tandem-seat MiG-23S, with the trainee in the front cockpit and the flight instructor in the rear. Both had their own rear-hinged clamshell canopies. The rear
canopy had a folding periscope to give the flight instructor a good view forward during takeoffs and landings; the periscope popped out when the landing gear was extended and folded flat again
when the landing gear was retracted. It was a trick the MiG OKB had invented for the MiG-21UB trainer, and possibly leveraged off the same periscope hardware. The back-seater also had a
control panel to allow him to simulate various flight emergencies for the trainee, which no doubt provided considerable amusement to the instructors and substantial frustration for the trainees.
Internal systems were been rearranged to accommodate the second seat and some avionics were moved forward of the cockpit, resulting in a longer nose. The trainer was supposed to be
combat-capable, not only featuring the GSh-23 cannon but even the Sapfir-21 radar.

Production began in 1970 at the plant in Irkutsk, with the production machine designated the "MiG-23UB". (MiG-27s built at the Irkutsk plant were painted with a fake rear canopy before rollout
to trick US satellite intelligence into believing the Irkutsk plant only made MiG-23UBs.) The MiG-23UB was quickly updated in 1971 with the "Edition 3" dogtooth wing with leading-edge flaps
and the ability to carry ferry tanks. Some early production machines had the Sapfir-21 radar, but most were built with ballast in place of the radar, the radar having proven more bother than it
was worth in practice. Most or all production had the R-27F2-300 engine. Late production had improved flight-control systems, which were retrofitted to some early production.

MIKOYAN MIG-23UB "FLOGGER-C":

_____________________
_________________

_______________________

spec
_____________________

metric
_________________

english
_______________________

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
16.42 meters
4.82 meters

45 feet 10 inches
25 feet 6 inches
401 sq_feet
368 sq_feet
53 feet 10 inches
15 feet 10 inches

empty weight
normal loaded weight
MTO weight

10,920 kilograms
15,080 kilograms
18,000 kilograms

24,080 pounds
33,250 pounds
39,690 pounds

max speed at altitude

service ceiling
range (clean)
_____________________

2,500 KPH
15,800 meters
1,210 kilometers
_________________

1,550 MPH / 1,350 KT

51,840 feet
750 MI / 655 NMI
_______________________

NATO assigned the MiG-23UB the codename "Flogger-C". Soviet crews called it a "Sparka (Twin)", a general term for a two-seat trainer. Production of the MiG-23UB for Soviet forces ended
in 1978, but export production continued to 1985. Factory records claim 769 were built, with roughly three-quarters delivered to Soviet forces and the rest provided to the various foreign air arms
operating the MiG-23. Color schemes generally followed those of the MiG-23 units the Sparkas were associated with.
MiG-23UBs were used in several cases as test and trials aircraft. A number of MiG-23UBs were upgraded in the 1980s to "MiG-23UM" standard with improved avionics to reflect the
configuration of contemporary MiG-23 fighters. Plans were floated after the fall of the USSR for further upgrades, but little came of them.
BACK_TO_TOP

[2.6] COMMENTS, SOURCES, & REVISION HISTORY

* The following table summarizes MiG-23/27 variants:

variant
codename
notes
_____________________________________________________________________
A/C 23-11
MiG-23S
MiG-23
MiG-23M
MiG-23MF
MiG-23MS
MiG-23ML
MiG-23MLA
MiG-23P
MiG-23MLD

Flogger
Flogger-A
Flogger-A
Flogger-B
Flogger-B
Flogger-F
Flogger-G
Flogger-G
Flogger-G
Flogger-K

Initial demonstrator.
Initial production machine, R-27 engine.
"1971 edition" machine, nocked wing.
Initial full production machine, R-29 engine.
Export MiG-23M.
Downgraded export MiG-23M.
Reworked "lightweight" MiG-23M, R-35 engine.
MiG-23ML with improved avionics.
Interceptor MiG-23ML for PVO.
Upgraded MiG-23ML/MLA.

MiG-23B
MiG-23BN
MiG-27
MiG-27K
MiG-27M
MiG-27ML
MiG-27D

Flogger-F
Flogger-H
Flogger-D
Flogger-J2
Flogger-J
Flogger-J
Flogger-J

Initial attack prototypes with AL-21 engine.

Initial production attacker with R-29 engine.
Optimized attack variant with Gatling cannon.
Attack variant with updated avionics.
Attack variant with cheaper updated avionics.
Indian MiG-27Ms.
MiG-27 upgraded to MiG-27M spec.

MiG-23U
Flogger-C
Two-seat trainer prototype.
MiG-23UB
Flogger-C
Production two-seat trainer.
MiG-23UM
Flogger-C
MiG-23UB upgrade.
_____________________________________________________________________
* The MiG-23 seems to be less prominent than the other MiG fighters, and after doping it out I begin to suspect why. It would be an exaggeration to say that the MiG-23 fighter was a bad
aircraft, but it did take a lot of effort to bring it to maturity. It seemed to do well enough in the interceptor role. The MiG-27 attack Flogger appears to have been much more satisfactory, likely
because the attack role didn't place such demands on agility.
As with many Soviet types, the old data on the MiG-23/27 found in the West is dubious in many ways. However, Yefim Gordon's book on the type included a picture of a MiG-23BN at a
museum with a stores loadout that defied simple logic -- fitted with unguided rocket pods in tandem on dual stores racks on the wing glove pylons -- a configuration that unsurprisingly drew
sarcastic comments from Gordon.

* Sources include:
MIG-23/27 FLOGGER by Yefim Gordon & Keith Dexter, Aerofax Publishers, 2005.
"Mikoyan MiG-23/27 'Flogger' Part 1: Fighter Versions" by Alexander Mladenov, INTERNATIONAL AIR POWER REVIEW, Volume 14 / 2004, 82:101.
"Mikoyan MiG-23/27 'Flogger' Part 2: Attack & Trainer Versions" by Alexander Mladenov, INTERNATIONAL AIR POWER REVIEW, Volume 15 / 2005, 82:97.