Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (Fagot)

History

The MiG-15 (UN codenamed "Fag", referring to "a hastily bundled pile of sticks") became the Soviet Union's first true turbojet-powered fighter, and the Soviet Union's first swept-wing aircraft . USSR Soviet Empire. The system saw extensive sand combat operations, especially in the Korean War, and proved more competitive to its contemporaries.

As World War II delayed Soviet turbojet designs, engineers turned to captured German scientists and their pioneering aircraft designswhile striking a deal with Britain to license the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojetand hired Compliant fighter jets The Soviet Empire needed jet fighters that were powerful, efficient, and easy to build/maintain. In all respects, thanks to its actions in South Korea, the aircraft will achieve "classic" status with sheer numbers and a record of success.

Development

Eventually, with the steady development of Western turbojet fighters, the need for a Soviet-like system inevitably arose. This new requirement specifies an aircraft design capable of reaching 621 mph, with a good rate of climb, a range of 745 miles, and restricted landing and takeoff routes.

The new design should be easy to make and maintain to ensure it can continue to fight without a bank owner. In addition, the aircraft should be well-armed and have a lot to offer its Western counterparts internally, so as not to disadvantage the Soviet pilots in the event of their inevitable conflict.

In 1944, Russia's war with Germany finally brought some respite. Soviet engineers could now again be responsible for developing their own turbojet designs. Delayed by several years during the conflict, the time to "catch up" with the West and its turbojet production was crucial - with Germany, the UK and the US all struggling to develop their own. So captured German plans - specifically the Focke-Wulf Ta 183 "Huckebein" fighter (developed by Kurt Tank) and associated German scientists were brought to the USSR to find answers.

With the captured German program, the Soviets began researching and producing their own versions of two different German-made axial turbojets - the Junkers Jumo 004 Orkan (which became the RD-10 in Soviet inventory) and the BMW 003 Sturm ( will come to the RD-20) series. Over time, these will power the earlier Yakovlev Yak-15 and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 straight-wing fighters and serve more as a developmental education effort than a usable fighter.

Nonetheless, the information gleaned from this work undoubtedly advanced the still-nascent Soviet jet program.

MiG-15bisP (or SP-1) is an experimental interceptor. This model has a conical fairing on top of the front air intake that contains the radar components, which almost looks like a visible "nose". Surprisingly, the performance of the aircraft was not significantly affected by this addition, requiring the S-13 cannon camera to be moved to the right side of the fuselage. The weight has increased due to the addition of the cone assembly and associated equipment, so the dual 23mm guns along the port side of the turret have been removed to compensate, leaving a single 37mm gun mount as the aircraft's sole armament and the location remains the same.

Limited The operation replaced these development aircraft as modified Fagot-A models. This was followed by some newly built Fagot B production models.

MiG-15M becomes a target drone. The drones consisted of used MiG-15 models whose ejection seat systems were replaced by remote-controlled equipment. Massive use of MiG-15 airframes with many flight miles, there is no loss in firing them for training or other developmental tests.

Like most other early jet fighters, the MiG-15bis was part of the "Parasite" fighter program. This theoretical combat approach to the need to escort fighter jets for long-range bomber swarms consists of a bomber "mothership" with a fighter jet hanging below it (hence, a pilot fish on the bottom of a great white shark).

If contact with the enemy is suspected, the fighter can be freed from the control of the bomber to protect the aircraft from enemy attack. Then in every conceivable way, the fighter would somehow be retrieved from the mothership and both systems returned to base.

In the case of trying the MiG-15bis, two aircraft (fighter and bomber) meet in mid-air after takeoff, the fighter is connected by a towline separated from the bomber. The fighter can then shut down its engines and prepare for the upcoming flight. As soon as he saw a sign of the enemy, he disengaged from the bomber's tail, fought as usual, and finally returned to the streamer system to be towed again - the fighter could be ready for several fights if necessary. Yakovlev developed the system and tested it on the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber.

Like most other parasite control ideas, this Soviet parasite project came out of nowhere and was eventually abandoned.

As expected, the production of the MiG-15, in whatever form, was not the only Soviet effort. MiG-15s produced in Czechoslovakia were designated S-102 (MiG-15 "Fagot-A" tactical fighter) and S-103 (MiG-15bis "Fagot-B" tactical fighter) (see variant list for full report). ) . these are equipped with licensed production engines numbered M-05.

The trainers we identify by their "CS" designation are in CS-102. The fighter-bomber model with six hardpoints was built as MiG-15SB. Six hardpoints (which, of course, resulted in increased take-off weight) forced the use of rocket-assisted launches. A similar model of the MiG-15bis "Fagot-B" fighter-bomber was also produced, which is the MiG-15bisSB.

The reconnaissance model uses an "R" in its name, as in the MiG-15bisR. Likewise, the models produced in Poland are Lim-1 (Fagot-A) and Lim-2 (Fagot-B). The reconnaissance plane is denoted by an "R" in its name, as in the Lim-2R.

The trained models (UTI-MiG-15 "Dwarf") were named SBLim-1 and SBLim-2.

China's attempt to deploy a more modern military during the Cold War received enormous support. As such, the MiG-15 was initially selected for licensed production on Chinese soil. However, by then, an upgraded and more modern MiG-17 "Fresco" was already available (it was actually in development when the MiG-15 was at the forefront), which China chose to incorporate into its new modern air force. It is important to note that Chinese pilots have accumulated a lot of experience flying MiG 15s during the Korean War, and Chinese factories have had experience repairing this model for a while (over 500 aircraft in fact), leading to pilots and mechanics Someone who is quite familiar with airplanes.

These MiG-15s received the Chinese designation Jain-2 (or J-2). The small trainer model appears in the Chinese Inventory of Jian Jiao 2 or (JJ-2). These were done using locally produced versions of the RD-45F (Nene II) turbojets in the form of the Wopen-5 series.

China eventually exported the MiG-15 to a number of countries, with the F-2 being the export variant of the fighter jet and the FT-2 being the export variant of the trainer jet. Although China has been exposed to the MiG-15 inside and out, no single-seat version of the fighter has been licensed on Chinese soil.

The Soviet Union produced at least 3,000 MiG-15 tactical fighter models and about 5,000 MiG-15UTI two-seater trainers. Other possible operators of this aircraft include Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Congo, Cuba, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel (captured example of Egypt) and Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Uganda, North Vietnam and Yemen.

The United States still possesses the only North Korean specimen captured during the Korean War.

Design

The Soviets had to do a lot to come up with a jet-powered design for a program that was in its infancy anyway. As expected, a lot of attention had to be paid to every part of the design, including the position of the engines (which affects the aircraft's center of gravity, or CG), the position of the cockpit, and the shape, edges, and surfaces of the wings. The thought process so common in WWII piston engine design must now be modified to create an efficient jet engine solution - one might notice, for example, that early jet-engine fighter jet attempts all had nearly straight wings.

The MiG-15 offered many solutions to these problems, with a turbojet installed behind the pilot, an air intake occupying the front of the fuselage, a pilot seat between the two systems, thin swept wings and A high mounted T-tail assembly and low tricycle landing gear - the landing gear can withstand low as there is no rotating propeller system to consider.

In all respects, the MiG-15 was a traditional design for jets of the day. Choice of nose air intake (which itself became a recognizable design choice for the early Mikoyan-Gurevich aircraft family, including subsequent models MiG-17 and MiG-19 to MiG-21 - the latter had a tapered air intake inside) Does this plane completely negate the need for a wider fuselage. This of course poses problems as engineers now have to implement various internal components in and around the front opening. The hull itself has been streamlined and effectively positioned, with the center of gravity in favor of the stern.

The hull structure is a semi-monocoque design with a riveted all-metal stress-skin structure and frame. The fuselage consists of two main sections, including the forward area (including the cockpit, weapons bay and nose landing gear) and the rear area (including the engine, wings and tail).

The design of the cockpit has been moved forward, offering impressive outside visibility, especially from the sides. The wings are swept back and constructed into very thin components, and specially designed landing gear can be fully embedded in the components while still supporting the weight of the aircraft during taxi, takeoff and landing.

The wings also carry design elements consistent with future Mikoyan-Gurevich aircraft designs, namely the use of boundary layer fencing to counteract "tip stall", an airflow issue associated with all swept wing designs. In future model development, the wings could also carry ordnance and drop tanks.

The tail is dominated by a single vertical tail, with a high T-shaped tail formed in the horizontal plane - another design signature of the MiG series. All edges except the trailing wing root are heavily swept back for maximum aerodynamic efficiency.

Jet exhaust is formed at the bottom of the rear wing.

Armed

If there is one aspect of this Soviet design superior to its Western counterparts, it is the choice of standard weapons. The Soviets, learning from their (and Germany's) experience in WWII, chose to display a series of cannons as the main armament of the aircraft, rather than the machine gun loadout designs still offered in the West, especially the die joint state.

While its rate of fire is slow and the amount of ammunition it can carry is limited, the power of a single round can easily render any avionics or engine system inoperable with the slightest peripheral impact.

The main armament is mounted in a convenient and easy-to-use winch-operated pod under the forward fuselage and consists of a Nudel'man N-37 37mm recoil gun and two Nudel'man/Rikhter NR-23 23mm Knockback guns Composition - Power Gun. Due to space constraints in this area of ??the MiG-15 design, the 37mm gun is mounted on the starboard side of the weapon rack, while two 23mm systems are mounted on the port side, these systems are staggered to fit the space for optimal use. If necessary, the hull can be easily lowered for maintenance, replenishment and repair.

Aiming is achieved with the ASP-3N sight and its associated S-13 shotgun - traditionally mounted on the upper lip portion of the front air intake.