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In the 1980s, the U.S. Air Force's secret 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron evaluated a collection of captured or donated Soviet aircraft to determine their strengths and weaknesses. On the whole, the expert test pilots were fond of the light, nimble and simple MiG-21. But not its successor. “The MiG-23 was a nightmare, maintenance was a nightmare. The guys hated flying it,” recalled a former 4477th squadron commander. The MiG-23 was the 1970s fighter that the West loved to mock as junk. What could one expect from an aircraft that NATO gave the sadomasochistic name of Flogger? With this year...

I the late 1980s, F-14 Tomcat pilot and Topgun instructor Paul Nickell found himself strapping into the cockpit of a brand new Navy jet that would never land on an aircraft carrier. Instead, it was built specifically to challenge the skills of the best fighter crews the Navy had to offer. It was a stripped down, up-engined, exotically painted variant of the already nimble F-16. General Dynamics built only 26 of them, and the fleet served less than a decade before being controversially retired, but the impression the jet made was legendary. For part one of a multi-part, in-depth series...

When the F-15 was created, it was created to be a pure air-to-air fighter, with the philosophy of “not a pound for air-to-ground” guiding designers. So how did Israel end up turning their F-15s into deadly long-range multi-role strike aircraft well before the F-15E Strike Eagle became a reality? Here’s how. In Need Of A Game Changing Fighter Israel’s love affair with the F-15 began out of the need to procure a fighter that could trump the increasingly complex fighters that surrounding Arab states were amassing from Russian and French sources. Both the F-14 Tomcat and the F-15 Eagle were...

CIA spies have smuggled up to 14 Stinger missiles into Syria so rebels can defend themselves from air strikes. The ground-to-air weapons have been delivered across the Turkish border to the Free Syrian Army and were partly paid for by Saudi Arabia, a security source claimed. President Bashar al-Assad’s MIG-23 warplanes and helicopter gunships have killed more than 1,000 people.

A force to be reckoned with Posted on 9 August 2010 in Defence The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) or Al Quwwat Al Jawwiya Il Misriya, is one of the largest air arms in the region and is also one of the longest established. Formed in 1930 as the Egyptian Army Air Force, it became fully independent in 1937. Initially it had close links with the British Royal Air Force and was primarily equipped with British-supplied aircraft. Spitfires gave way to Meteors and Vampires before the 1952 revolution, after which the new president, General Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned to the Soviet...

Two killed as MiG-23 fighter crashes at Tripoli air show TRIPOLI, October 7 (RIA Novosti) - Two pilots were killed when a Libyan Air Force MiG-23 Flogger fighter crashed on Wednesday in Tripoli during a demonstration flight, a Libyan Defense Ministry spokesman said. The aircraft crashed about 2 kilometers from observation platforms at the Libyan Aviation Conference & Exhibition, which runs October 4-8. It was earlier reported that only one pilot had died. Production of the "third-generation" MiG-23 started in 1970 and ended in 1985 with over 5,000 aircraft built. Its various modifications are currently operated by several former Soviet...

Remnants of Iraq Air Force Are FoundBy ROD NORDLAND Published: August 30, 2009 BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials have discovered that they may have a real air force, after all. The Defense Ministry revealed Sunday that it had recently learned that Iraq owns 19 MIG-21 and MIG-23 jet fighters, which are in storage in Serbia. Ministry officials are negotiating with the Serbs to restore and return the aircraft. The Serbian government has tentatively promised to make two of the aircraft available “for immediate use,” according to a news release from the ministry. The rest would be restored on a rush basis,...

Iraq to fetch MiG fighter planes from Serbia (AFP) – 11 hours ago BAGHDAD — An Iraqi military delegation has gone to Serbia to bring back 19 MiG fighter planes that Saddam Hussein's regime sent for servicing 20 years ago, the defence ministry said on Saturday. "General Othman al-Fredji, a defence ministry adviser, and Anwar Mohammed Amin, head of the air force, are in Serbia negotiating the return (of the planes) at the earliest possible date," spokesman General Mohammed al-Askari said. The Soviet-built MiG-21 and 23 aircraft, whose existence has just been discovered, "were sent by Saddam's government in 1989...

Final touchdown Manu Pubby Feb 20, 2009 Close to three decades after the aircraft were bought from the erstwhile USSR to counter Pakistan’s then newly acquired F-16 air superiority fighters, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will bid a final farewell to the last of its MiG-23 ‘swing wing’ fighters. The MiG-23 BN aircraft from IAF’s 221 Squadron will fly out from the Halwara airbase on March 6 for a final sortie that will wrap up its 30 years in the Air Force. The jets were once known as formidably fast supersonic fighters that were originally designed as a replacement for...

MiG-23MFs to be phased out, last flight on March 20 AHMEDABAD, MAR 16 (PTI) The MiG-23MF fighters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will take to the skies for one last time on March 20 before being phased out. Four of the only five existing MiG-23MF fighters of the IAF will fly for the last time from the frontline Jamnagar airbase in Gujarat before entering the annals of Indian military aviation history, official sources said today. The fifth aircraft will be kept on display, they said. Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi and South Western Air Command chief Air Marshal...