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MiG-23ML
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generation jet fighter, alongside similar Soviet aircraft such as the Su-17 "Fitter". 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. 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. The MiG-23 remains in limited service with some export customers. The basic design was also used as the basis for the Mikoyan MiG-27, a dedicated ground-attack variant. 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. Development The MiG-23's predecessor, the MiG-21, was fast and agile, but limited in it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RP-23 Sapfir
The RP-23 ''Sapfir'' ( NATO codename: ''High Lark)'' was a Soviet look-down/shoot-down radar system. It was developed by Phazotron specifically for the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) new MiG-23 fighter aircraft and used in conjunction with the Vympel R-23 (NATO codename: AA-7 ''Apex'') beyond visual range air-to-air missile. Variants ;Sapfir-23L The initial production version, the Sapfir-23L (L - ''Lyogkiy'' or lightweight) pulse radar was first carried on the MiG-23 Edition 1971. Using a twist-Cassegrain antenna in diameter, it used a continuous-wave target illuminator channel to provide guidance for the semi-active radar homing (SARH) R-23R missile. However, as an interim variant it was considered unreliable and lacked the look-down/shoot-down capability of later Sapfir radars; it could only guide missiles onto targets flying above .Mladenov (2016), Ch. 3 - ''MiG-23 Edition 1971''Mladenov (2016), Ch. 3 - ''MiG-23 Radars'' ;Sapfir-23D Equipping the MiG-23M, the improved Sapfir-23D h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces were formed from components of the Imperial Russian Air Service in 1917, and faced their greatest test during World War II. The groups were also involved in the Korean War, and dissolved along with the Soviet Union itself in 1991–92. Former Soviet Air Forces' assets were subsequently divided into several air forces of former Republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republics, including the new Russian Air Force. The "Air March, March of the Pilots" was its marching song. Origins The first military aviation branch of Russia or any of the Soviet Union's constituent states was the short-lived Imperial Russian Air Service, founded in 1912 and disbanded in 1917 with the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syrian Air Force
The Syrian Air Force () is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It was established in 1948, and first saw action in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Under Ba'athist Syria until December 8, 2024, it was known as the Syrian Arab Air Force. Land-based air defense systems were grouped under the Syrian Air Defence Force, which split from both the Air Force and the Army. As of March 2025, the air force status is unknown, with some of its equipment being lost following the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and other rebel groups offensive in November 2024 and subsequent Israeli Air Force's airstrikes in December 2024, following the collapse of the Assad regime. History 1940s The end of World War II led to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom and France from the Middle East, and this included a withdrawal from Syria. In 1948, the Syrian Air Force was officially established after the first class of pilots graduated from a French-run flight school at Estabel airfield in Lebanon, usi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Aircraft
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is an affinity group for contributors with shared goals within the Wikimedia movement. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within Wikimedia project, sibling projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by ''Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
K-13 (missile)
The Vympel K-13 (NATO reporting name: AA-2 "Atoll") is a short-range, infrared homing air-to-air missile developed by the Soviet Union. The K-13 is a reverse engineered copy of the American AIM-9 Sidewinder, hence the similar appearance. Although it since has been replaced by more modern missiles in front-line service, it saw widespread service in many nations. Background During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958, Taiwan's F-86 Sabres faced the much higher performance mainland Chinese PLAAF MiG-17s. The MiG-17s had speed, maneuverability, and altitude advantages over the Sabres, allowing them to engage only when they desired, normally at advantageous times. In response, the US Navy rushed to modify 100 ROCAF Sabres to carry the newly introduced AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. These were introduced into combat on 24 September 1958, when a group of MiG-17s cruised past a flight of Sabres, only for them to be attacked by missiles. This was the first instance of guided missiles bein ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laser Designator
A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire, or the M712 Copperhead round, respectively. When a target is marked by a designator, the beam is invisible and does not shine continuously. Instead, a series of coded laser pulses, also called PRF codes ( pulse repetition frequency), are fired at the target. These signals bounce off the target into the sky, where they are detected by the seeker on the laser-guided munition, which steers itself towards the centre of the reflected signal. Unless the people being targeted possess laser detection equipment or can hear aircraft overhead, it is extremely difficult for them to determine whether they are being marked. Laser designators work best in clear atmospheric conditions. Cloud cover, rain or smoke can make reliable designation of targets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TV Camera
A professional video camera (often called a television camera even though its use has spread beyond television) is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images (as opposed to a movie camera, that earlier recorded the images on filmstock, film). Originally developed for use in television studios or with Outside broadcasting, outside broadcast Production truck, trucks, they are now also used for music videos, direct-to-video movies (see digital movie camera), corporate and educational videos, wedding videos, among other uses. Since the 2000s, most professional video cameras are digital (instead of analog). The distinction between professional video cameras and movie cameras narrowed as HD digital video cameras with sensors the same size as 35mm movie cameras - plus Dynamic range#Photography, dynamic range (exposure latitude) and color rendition approaching film quality - were introduced in the late 2010s. Nowadays, HDTV cameras designed for broadcast television, news, sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames include: "''Balalaika''", because its planform resembles the stringed musical instrument of the same name; "''Ołówek''", Polish for "pencil", due to the shape of its fuselage, and "''Én Bạc''", meaning "silver swallow", in Vietnamese. Approximately 60 countries across four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations seven decades after its maiden flight. It set aviation records, becoming the most-produced supersonic jet aircraft in aviation history, the most-produced combat aircraft since the Korean War and, previously, the longest production run of any combat aircraft. Development Origins The MiG-21 jet fighter was a continuation of Soviet jet fighters, starting with the subsonic MiG-15 and MiG-17, and the supersonic MiG-19. A number of experime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radar
Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, map weather formations, and terrain. The term ''RADAR'' was coined in 1940 by the United States Navy as an acronym for "radio detection and ranging". The term ''radar'' has since entered English and other languages as an anacronym, a common noun, losing all capitalization. A radar system consists of a transmitter producing electromagnetic waves in the radio or microwave domain, a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna (often the same antenna is used for transmitting and receiving) and a receiver and processor to determine properties of the objects. Radio waves (pulsed or continuous) from the transmitter reflect off the objects and return to the receiver, giving ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lift Jet
A lift jet is a lightweight jet engine installed only for upward thrust.{{cite book , url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeaerospa0000guns/page/346/mode/2up , isbn=978-0-521-84140-5 , title=The Cambridge aerospace dictionary , date=2004 , last1=Gunston , first1=Bill , publisher=Cambridge University Press An early experimental program using lift engines was the Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig (TMR), nicknamed the "Flying Bedstead", first run in 1955. In the early 1960s both the Soviet Union and Western nations considered lift engines to provide STOL or even VTOL capability to combat aircraft. The Soviet Union did concurrent testing of versions of combat aircraft using swing-wing, variable geometry wings or lift jets but ruled out lift jets. Problems associated with lift engines include high fuel consumption, extra weight (which is simply dead weight when the engines are not needed for lift), and taking up fuselage volume that could be used for fuel or other systems. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air-to-air Missile
An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft (including unmanned aircraft such as cruise missiles). AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid-fuel rocket, solid fueled but sometimes liquid-fuel rocket, liquid fueled. Ramjet engines, as used on the Meteor (missile), Meteor, are emerging as propulsion that will enable future medium- to long-range missiles to maintain higher average speed across their engagement envelope. Air-to-air missiles are broadly put in two groups. Those designed to engage opposing aircraft at ranges of around 30 km to 40 km maximum are known as short-range or "within visual range" missiles (SRAAMs or WVRAAMs) and are sometimes called "dogfight" missiles because they are designed to optimize their agility rather than range. Most use infrared guidance and are called heat-seeking missiles. In contrast, medium- or long-range missiles (MRAAMs or LRAAMs), which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beyond Visual Range Missile
A beyond-visual-range missile (BVR missile) or beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) is an air-to-air missile that is capable of engaging at ranges around or beyond. This range has been achieved using dual pulse rocket motors or booster rocket motor and ramjet sustainer motor. Medium-range, long-range, and very-long-range air-to-air missiles fall under the category of beyond-visual-range missiles. Older BVR missiles generally used the semi-active radar homing, and modern BVR missiles use the active radar homing guidance. In addition to the range capability, the missile must also be capable of tracking its target at this range or of acquiring the target in flight. Systems in which a mid-course correction is transmitted to the missile have been used. History Early air-to-air missiles used semi-active radar homing guidance, that is the missile used the radiation produced by the launching aircraft to guide it to the target. The latest generation of BVR missiles u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
