![]() The order to start series production of the MiG-23 was given in December 1967. ![]() All featured the Tumansky R-27-300 turbojet engine with a thrust of 77 kN (17,300 lbf). ![]() Six more flight prototypes and two static-test prototypes were prepared for further flight and system testing. The maiden flight of 23–11 took place on 10 June 1967, flown by the famous MiG test pilot Aleksandr Vasilyevich Fedotov (who set the absolute altitude record in 1977 in a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25). The 23-11 featured variable-geometry wings which could be set to angles of 16, 45 and 72 degrees, and it was clearly more promising. Work on the second strand of development was carried out in parallel by a team led by A.A Andreyev, with MiG directed to build a variable-geometry prototype, the " 23-11" in 1965. This first flew on 3 April 1967, but it soon became apparent that this configuration was unsatisfactory, as the lift jets became useless dead weight once airborne. The first option, for an aircraft fitted with lift jets, resulted in the " 23-01", also known as the MiG-23PD ( Podyomnye Dvigatyeli – lift jet), was a tailed delta of similar layout to the smaller MiG-21 but with two lift jets in the fuselage. This led Mikoyan to consider two options: lift jets, to provide an additional lift component and variable-geometry wings, which had been developed by TsAGI for both "clean-sheet" aircraft designs and adaptations of existing designs. Manoeuvrability was not an urgent requirement. Low-level speed and handling was also to be improved over the MiG-21. The Soviet Air Force ( VVS) demanded the new aircraft have a much shorter take-off run. A major design consideration was take-off and landing performance. The new aircraft was required to have better performance and range than the MiG-21, while carrying more capable avionics and weapons including beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles. Work began on a replacement for the MiG-21 in the early 1960s. The MiG-23's predecessor, the MiG-21, was fast and agile, but limited in its operational capabilities by its primitive radar, short range, and limited weapons load (restricted in some aircraft to a pair of short-range R-3/K-13 (AA-2 "Atoll") air-to-air missiles). Among many minor changes, the MiG-27 replaced the MiG-23's nose-mounted radar system with an optical panel holding a laser designator and a TV camera. The basic design was also used as the basis for the Mikoyan MiG-27, a dedicated ground-attack variant. The MiG-23 remains in limited service with some export customers. Production started in 1969 and reached large numbers with over 5,000 aircraft built, making it the most produced variable-sweep wing aircraft in history. It was the first Soviet fighter to field a look-down/shoot-down radar, the RP-23 Sapfir, and one of the first to be armed with beyond-visual-range missiles. It is a third-generation jet fighter, alongside similar Soviet aircraft such as the Su-17 "Fitter".
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