Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger – White 36, Russian Air Force

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA5314: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger White 36, Russian Air Force. Production run of 700 models.

Length 9.25 inches Wingspan 7.75 inches

The first MiG-23 was the Soviet Union’s first “third generation” fighter aircraft and entered service in 1970. The upgrade to a Mig-23-98 was intended to extend the life of the MiG-23 until 2010. It would include new radar; new avionics, its air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities were improved by making the aircraft capable of firing R- 27 and R-77 missiles. The MiG-23-98 used systems from the MiG-29SMT aircraft. The MiG-23 was the primary multirole fighter used by the Warsaw Pact countries.

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger
Designed as a heavier, more powerful improvement on the MiG-21 Fishbed, the MiG 23 first flew on June 10, 1967. This fighter/bomber had variable-sweep wings and could achieve speeds greater than Mach 2. It was the first Soviet aircraft capable of firing “beyond-visual-range” missiles, and the first to have look-down/shoot-down radar. As one of the most successful military aircraft built during the Cold War, MiG-23s were produced in large numbers, with more than 5,000 coming off of the production lines. Although retired from service in the former Soviet Union, many MiG-23s are still in service with various export customers.