MiG23MLDComparisonsNew1Word格式.docx
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AlexanderMladenovlooksattheformerSovietAirForceconcepts,datingfromthemid-1980s,fortheMiG-23MLD’semploymentintheairsuperiorityrolepittedagainsttheF-15A,F-16A,F-4EandKfirC.2
Althoughthisarticlecanberegardedasbeingofsomewhathistoricalvalue,infactitstillhasacertainpracticalvalueforthepresentday.InRussia,theotherCISrepublicsandEasternEuropetheagingFloggerwasretiredfromservicecompletelybetween1997and2002,butintheThirdWorldcountries,consideredhostiletotheWest,thetypeisregardedyetasmatureandcapableenoughdesign,performingusefulworkintheair-to-airrole,withperhapsbettermissioncapableratesthantheearly-seriesMiG-29soperatedbythosenations.Asmanyas30fighterFloggersarebelievedtobemaintainedincombat-readystatebytheIraqiAirForce;
nolessthan60moreareinservicewiththeSyrianairarm(includingmorethan40highly-modifiedMiG-23MLDs);
theCubanAirForcehasonstrengthslightlylessthanthreedozensMiG-23MF/MLAs;
andmorethan40Flogger-GscontinuetosoldieronwiththeNorthKoreanAirForce.SomeofthecountriesontheroguelisthavedeterminedandskilledFloggerpilotsandtounderestimatethemandtheirmountswouldbefoolish,and,incaseofwar,potentiallydangerous.
TheBekaaValleyDefeat–aStimulusforFurtherFloggerUpgrades
InJune1982,theSoviet-styleairsuperiority/airdefenceratherorthodoxdoctrine,trainingandtacticshaveprovedtobefullyinadequateandineffectivewhenemployedagainsttheIsraeliDefenceForce/AirForce(IDF/AF).Syrianlosses–fighters,fighter-bombersandhelicoptersbetweenJune6and11-numberedsome85(between82and92accordingtosomesources)whileSyriansclaimedforsome27IDF/AFfixed-androtary-wingaircraftshootdownwhichisobviouslyabogus.ItiswellknownthatIsraelisdenylosinganyaircraftinaircombatsduringthe1982Lebanonwarthoughsuchstatementsmayalsobeconsidered,tosomeextent,asdubious.AccordingtotheauthoritativeresearcharticleEarlyMiG-23sinOperationalService,writtenbythe1960s-1980slocalconflictsresearcherTomCooper(publishedinAirEnthusiast,Vol100,July-August2002,p56-67),theSyrianfighterFloggersplayedonlyasecondaryroleintheconflict.ConfirmedlossesduringtheclashesovertheBekaaValleybetweenJune9and11comprisedfourMiG-23MS’andsixMiG-23MFs,whiletheirpilotsclaimedatleastfiveenemyaircraftshootthoughmostifnotallofthesekillscannotbeconfirmedbyindependentsourcesandthuscouldberegardedmoreasbogusratherthanofrealisticreports.
MiG-23MLD’sprosandcons–theSovietviewofthe1980s
Themostsignificantpost-BekaaValleyundertakingoftheSovietAirForcewasthecrash-programmeupgradeofthehugeVVS-FAMiG-23ML/MLAFlogger-GfleettotheMiG-23MLDFlogger-Kstandard,alsoknownasIzdelye23-18intheinternaldesignationsystemoftheMiGDesignBureau.Intheearly1980s,theMiG-23madeupthebackboneoftheVVS(Voenno-VazdushniSili-theSovietAirForce)FrontalAviation(FA)airdefence/airsuperiorityassets.Nolessthan1,100MiG-23M/ML/MLAswereinservicewiththeSovietfront-linecombatunitsbythattimeandmorethan600ofthemusedtoequipatleast15fighterregimentsbasedinCentralEuropethatwereconsideredtobethespearheadoftheSovietairsuperiorityassetsatthemostprobabletheatreofoperationsduringtheColdWarera.
TheFlogger-K’supgradepackageisknowntohadbeenpreparedevenbeforetheLebanonwarandatotalof560VVSMiG-23ML/MLAswereupgradedwhileonly66improvedinterceptors(withonlynewavionics)arereportedbyRussiansourcesasbeingnewly-builtbetweenmid/late1982andDecember1984;
theseareknownastheMiG-23MLD(Export)(Izdelie23-19orthealternativedesignationIzdelie23-22)andwereonlyexportedtoSyriaandBulgaria–50and16examplesrespectively.Interestingly,theNATOreportingnameFlogger-Gwasretained,astheseaircraftwerehardlydistinguishablefromthebasicMiG-23ML/MLA.Unlikeitsexportcounterparts,theVVS-FAMiG-23MLDsboastedmuch-improvedmaneuveringperformancethankstoahostofairframeandflightcontrolsystemupgrades.
ItwouldbeinterestingfortheWesternpublictoexamineandanalyseindetailsthecontentofaSovietAirForcesupplementaryaircombatmanual.Thisparticular32-pagemanualtitledAideMemoriefortheMiG-23PilotonAirCombatvsF-15A,F-16A,F-4EandKfirC.2waspublishednotlongaftertheBekaaValleyclashes.BythattimeboththeSovietandclientstatespilotsstilltrainedmainlyintheorthodox-andoftendescribedasinflexible-airintercepttactics,derivedfromthe1960sandmasteredtoperfectionduringtheMiG-21era.Traditionally,inthe1970sandearly1980s,theSovietandclientairarmsflewtheMiG-23M/ML/MLDliketheMiG-21–asahigh-speedpointinterceptorcloselyguidedandsupportedbytheGCI,andittooknolessthan12yearstoemploytheFlogger-G/Kasatrueairsuperiorityfighter.
AideMemoriefortheMiG-23PilotonAirCombatvsF-15A,F-16A,F-4EandKfirC.2referstotheMiG-23MLD(Export)version,poweredbytheR35-300turbojet,ratedat28,700lbs(127kNor13,000kg)infullafterburner,withouttheaerodynamicsandflightcontrolsystemimprovementsoftheVVS-FAMIG-23MLDs.Accordingtothemanual,theaircraft’smainparametersdefiningtheenergymaneuverabilityperformanceturnoutthefighterslightlybetterthantheMcDonnellDouglasF-4EPhantomIIanddefinitelybetterthantheIAIKfirC.2.However,theMiG-23MLD’saircombatperformanceaspects,asgiveninthemanual,arequotedasdefinitelyinferiortothoseoftheMcDonnellDouglasF-15AandGeneralDynamicsF-16A.ThereareonlyfewareaswithintheMiG-23MLD’senvelopewhereitcouldboastequalorslightlybetterperformanceaspectswhenpittedagainstthethirdgenerationUSfighters.
Forexample,themanual’sauthorsclaimthatcomparedthantheF-4E(notspecifiedwhethertheslatedornon-slatedsub-versionofthePhantomisconcerned),theMiG-23MLDhassuperiorsustainedturnperformancethroughouttheentireenvelope,excludingtherangebetween377and540kts(700and1,000km/h)bellow21,000ft(7,000m)aswellasanedgeoverthePhantomIIinthezoomclimbperformanceatallaltitudesandspeeds,excludingthetrueairspeedrangebetween485and647kts(900and1,200km/h)above18,000ft(6,000m).
PittedagainsttheF-15A,theMiG-23MLDhastheonlynotableadvantageinthezoomclimbperformanceatspeedsabove620kts(1,150km/h)whilepittedagainsttheF-16A,themanualassertsthattheSovietswing-wingfighterboastssomewhatbettersustainedturnperformanceabove15,000ft(5,000m)atspeedsclosetothemaximumaswellasbetterzoomclimbperformanceattrueairspeedsexceeding590kts(1,100km/h).However,asreal-worldtestshaveshowninIsraelwherethedefectedinNovember1989MiG-23MLD(Export)wasflight-testedbytheIDF/AF,theswing-wingfighterdemonstrated-somewhatsurprisingly-betteraccelerationthantheescortingF-16sandthistendstoindicatethatinrealworldconditionstheMiG-23MLDwouldhaveaslightedgeovertheearlyF-16sinaccelerationandenergymaneuverability,attrueairspeedsabove485kts(900km/h).
TheIAIKfirC.2,asassessedinthemanual,issaidtobeinferiortotheMiG-23MLDbysustainedturnperformanceatairspeedsabove540kts(1,000km/h),byzoomclimbperformanceattrueairspeedsbellow540kts(1,000km/h),whileataltitudesbellow12,000ft(4,0000m)theMiG-23MLDhasanedgeinenergymaneuverabilitythroughouttheentirespeedrange.
SensorandSelf-ProtectionConsiderations
Accordingtothemanual,theMiG-23MLD’sN008ESapfir-23MLAE-2pulseradarhassuperiorperformancethanthePhantom’sAPQ-120,approximatelyequalperformancecomparedtotheF-16A’sAN/APG-66anddefinitelyinferiorperformancetotheF-15A’sAN/APG-63.(SeeTable2andFigure1).
Themanual’sauthorsclaimthatairborneradarmaximumdetectionrangealonecannotgrantanydecisivetacticaladvantageinthenon-sterileenvironmentoftherealworldaircombat.Itiswellknownthatfighterradartargetdetectionanddiscriminationperformanceare,ingeneralterms,somehowlimitedbytherelativelylowresolutionofferedbytheradarbeamwithanaveragewidthofbetween2.5and3.5degreesinazimuthandelevation.Inaddition,thegenerallylowreliabilityoftheelectronicidentification(EID)facilitiesintheearly/mid1980sisanotherfactorthatwouldpreventtheenemyfightersfromthefulluseoftheirsuperiorBeyondVisualRange(BVR)capability.However,themanualnotesthattheF-16A’sandF-15A’sradarshaveaplethoraofvaluablecloseaircombatmodeswithautomatictargetacquisitionatcloseranges(upto6-10nm[10-18km])withmissileseekerheadsslavedtotheradar’sline-of-sightforincreasedaccuracyandmissilelock-onspeed.
BoththeF-15A’sandF-16A’sPulse-Doppler(PD)radarshavewell-knownproblemswiththeirstabilityoflocking-ontargetsflyingbellowthemonthebeam(side-on,whenin‘snap-down’attacks).ThisparticularshortcomingcouldbeusedtoagoodeffectbytheMiG-23pilotstoescapefromattacksandgotawayastheevasionfromtheAIM-7FSparrowSARHmissile,launchedbytheF-15couldbeeasilyachievedbyperformingahigh-gbeammaneuvering.
Asarule,whileoperatinginlook-down/shoot-downmodeovermountainousterrain,theearlySpafir-23’sperformanceinthelook-down/shootdownmodeisnotablydegraded,buttheMLD’sSapfir-23MLAE-2radarhasanewlyadded,highlyusefulPulse-Dopplermode(Non-Coherent)withsomewhatimprovedultra-lowleveltarg