MiG-23M
This page is about the Soviet jet fighter MiG-23M. For other versions, see MiG-23 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The MiG-23M is a rank VII Soviet jet fighter with a battle rating of 11.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Red Skies".
The MiG-23M is the first version of the MiG-23 to see wide operational service. It is a very different plane from the preceding MiG-21bis, with variable sweep wings, side air intakes, sophisticated avionics, and access to R-23 missiles with good range. The MiG-23M is the first Soviet fighter with a real BVR capability and pilots can enjoy using R-23R missiles for long range radar-guided jousting or R-23T missiles for IRST-cued sneak attacks. It is no slouch in close quarter engagements either, where lower wing sweep settings give it great sustained turning capability and its all-aspect R-60M missiles can do good work. As to be expected however for an early variant of such a revolutionary aircraft, it is a bit rough around the edges: the thrust-to-weight ratio is worse than the MiG-21bis, it is not great at short-term turning, and it has a limited supply of only 12 large-caliber countermeasures. Still, it brings a lot of new features to the table, and Soviet pilots who master it will be very pleased with the succeeding MiG-23MLD.
General info
Flight performance
Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 13,000 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
Stock | 2,339 | 2,329 | 16000 | 35.6 | 35.6 | 147.4 | 140.4 | 750 |
Upgraded | 2,380 | 2,358 | 34.5 | 35.0 | 194.4 | 169.9 |
Details
Features | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear | Drogue chute |
X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | ✓ |
Limits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
1470 | 630 | N/A | 508 | 473 | ~12 | ~5 |
Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
< 665 | < 650 | < 700 | N/A |
Engine performance
Engine | Aircraft mass | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Engine name | Number | Basic mass | Wing loading (full fuel) | ||||
Tumansky R-29-300 | 1 | 11,155 kg | 395 - 445 kg/m2 | ||||
Engine characteristics | Mass with fuel (no weapons load) | Max Takeoff Weight | |||||
Weight (each) | Type | 10m fuel | 20m fuel | 30m fuel | 35m fuel | ||
1,780 kg | Afterburning axial-flow turbojet | 12,367 kg | 13,462 kg | 14,615 kg | 15,195 kg | 18,400 kg | |
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB) | Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP) | ||||||
Condition | 100% | WEP | 10m fuel | 20m fuel | 30m fuel | 35m fuel | MTOW |
Stationary | 7,950 kgf | 10,494 kgf | 0.85 | 0.78 | 0.72 | 0.69 | 0.57 |
Optimal | 8,268 kgf (1,400 km/h) |
12,987 kgf (1,400 km/h) |
1.05 | 0.96 | 0.89 | 0.85 | 0.71 |
Survivability and armour
Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Ballistic Computer | |||
---|---|---|---|
CCIP (Guns) | CCIP (Rockets) | CCIP (Bombs) | CCRP (Bombs) |
Offensive armament
The MiG-23M is armed with:
- A choice between two presets:
- 1 x 23 mm GSh-23L cannon, belly-mounted (200 rpg)
- 1 x 23 mm GSh-23L cannon + 12 x large calibre countermeasures
Suspended armament
The MiG-23M can be outfitted with the following ordnance presets:
- Without load
- 4 x R-3S missiles
- 2 x R-13M1 missiles
- 4 x R-13M1 missiles
- 6 x R-60M missiles
- 2 x R-23R missiles
- 2 x R-23T missiles
- 64 x S-5K rockets
- 64 x S-5K rockets
- 4 x S-24B rockets
- 2 x Kh-23M missiles
- 16 x 100 kg OFAB-100 bombs (1,600 kg total)
- 4 x 250 kg FAB-250M-62 bombs (1,000 kg total)
- 2 x 500 kg FAB-500M-62 bombs (1,000 kg total)
- 2 x ZB-500 incendiary bombs
Custom loadout options
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 kg OFAB-100 bombs | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
250 kg FAB-250M-62 bombs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
500 kg FAB-500M-62 bombs | 1 | 1 | |||
ZB-500 incendiary bombs | 1 | 1 | |||
S-5K rockets | 16, 32 | 16 | 16 | 16, 32 | |
S-24B rockets | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Kh-23M missiles | 1* | 1* | |||
R-3S missiles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
R-13M1 missiles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
R-23R missiles | 1† | 1† | |||
R-23T missiles | 1† | 1† | |||
R-60M missiles | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
Delta-NG | 1* | ||||
* It is required to equip the Delta-NG targeting pod with the Kh-23M missiles † R-23R and R-23T missiles cannot be mixed, only one type may be carried across hardpoints |
Usage in battles
Two different tactics are recommended when flying the MiG-23M:
- Low altitude, high speed, side of the map. Try to get as much speed as possible maintaining a very low altitude and go to the right if you want a more head-on engagement or to the left if you want a side/back of the enemy attack position (in a majority of maps players go to their left). Better used with a squadron, the MiG-23M can eliminate several enemy aircraft if played right with 3 teammates and using the all-aspect IR-guided R-23T missile.
- High altitude, high speed, together with your team, BVR. Fly along with your team, maintain a high altitude until all enemy aircraft are below you, then make surprise attacks on enemies that are busy, normally use the R-23R to destroy the high altitude F-4s or F-104s with BVR missiles.
No matter which tactic though, it is recommended to engage your enemy from their front hemisphere, since you can carry all-aspect IR missiles. This way it leaves your enemy less time to react and dodge the missiles.
Also, since both the R-60Ms and the R-23Ts have a relatively wide FOV, it is recommended to lock the enemy using your IRST before engaging the missile lock to slave the missile, and better utilise their wide FOV.
Only use the R-60Ms at close range, around 1.5 km. They perform best under such range, and it also gives your enemy less reaction time to release the countermeasures, since R-60Ms are easily tricked by flares.
When in a 1v1 situation, try to use your great low-speed performance to trick the enemy into low speeds, especially when against Phantoms. When your speed drops below 400 km/h, manually control the wing to the most frontal position to improve your manoeuvrability.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very high low-altitude top speed, could outrun any of your opponents.
- Decent sustained turn rate.
- Reasonably high acceleration for its size.
- R-23T and R-60M all-aspect missiles.
- Variable swept-wing aircraft, allowing for decent performance at any speed.
- HUD displays speed and altitude information, most useful in simulator mode.
- Can carry 6 x R-60M AAMs.
- Contains IRST tracking system and decent radar that allows you to track aerial targets at ground level.
- Varied armament preset selection.
Cons:
- Underwhelming instantaneous turn rate, cannot pull some extreme windows easily.
- Loses quite a lot of speed in turns.
- Low countermeasures count.
- Low ammo count and low muzzle velocity for the GSh-23L cannon.
- R-60Ms are easily distracted by flares.
- R-23T/R-23R air-to-air missiles struggle in close combat.
- Radar is not on par with NATO counterparts.
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main
template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>
, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />
. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===
, also if applicable).
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the aircraft;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
- [Development] The MiG-23M and rank VII for aviation
- Official data sheet - more details about the performance
Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau (Микоя́н и Гуре́вич Опытное конструкторское бюро) | |
---|---|
Fighters | MiG-3-15 · MiG-3-15 (BK) · MiG-3-34 |
I-225 | |
Jet fighters | MiG-9 · MiG-9 (l) |
MiG-15 · MiG-15bis · MiG-15bis ISh | |
MiG-17 | |
MiG-19PT | |
MiG-21F-13 · MiG-21PFM · MiG-21S (R-13-300) · MiG-21SMT · MiG-21bis | |
MiG-23M · MiG-23ML · MiG-23MLD | |
MiG-27M · MiG-27K | |
MiG-29 · MiG-29SMT | |
Export/Licensed | ␗MiG-9 · ␗MiG-9 (l) |
◊MiG-15bis · ◔MiG-15bis · J-2* | |
MiG-17AS · ◔MiG-17PF · J-4* · Shenyang F-5* | |
◊MiG-19S · J-6A* | |
◄MiG-21 SPS-K · ◊MiG-21MF · ◔MiG-21MF · ▄MiG-21bis · ◔MiG-21bis-SAU · ◊MiG-21bis-SAU · ◊MiG-21 "Lazur-M" · ▄MiG-21 Bison · J-7II** | |
◊MiG-23BN · ◊MiG-23MF · ◔MiG-23MF · ◊MiG-23MLA | |
◔MiG-29 · ◊MiG-29 · ◄MiG-29G | |
*Licensed and domesticated with Chinese designations. | |
**Unlicensed, reverse-engineered and domesticated with Chinese designations. | |
See Also | Shenyang · Chengdu |
USSR jet aircraft | |
---|---|
Bereznyak-Isayev | BI |
Yakovlev | Yak-15 · Yak-15P · Yak-17 · Yak-23 · Yak-28B · Yak-30D · Yak-38 · Yak-38M · Yak-141 |
Mikoyan-Gurevich | MiG-9 · MiG-9 (l) · MiG-15 · MiG-15bis · MiG-15bis ISh · MiG-17 · MiG-17AS · MiG-19PT |
MiG-21F-13 · MiG-21PFM · MiG-21S (R-13-300) · MiG-21SMT · MiG-21bis | |
MiG-23M · MiG-23ML · MiG-23MLD · MiG-27M · MiG-27K | |
MiG-29 · MiG-29SMT | |
Lavochkin | La-174 · La-15 · La-200 |
Sukhoi | Su-9 · Su-11 |
Su-7B · Su-7BKL · Su-7BMK · Su-17M2 · Su-17M4 · Su-22M3 | |
Su-24M | |
Su-25 · Su-25BM · Su-25K · Su-25T · Su-25SM3 · Su-39 | |
Su-27 · Su-27SM | |
Ilyushin | IL-28 · IL-28Sh |
Tupolev | Tu-14T |