Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27
A MiG-27 of the Indian Air Force
Type:	Fighter bomber
Design country:	Soviet Union
Manufacturer:	Mikoyan-Gurevich
First flight:	20th August 1970
Commissioning:	1975
Production time:	1970 to 1986
Number of pieces:	1075 (plus license production)

The Mikoyan-Gurewitsch MiG-27 ( Russian Микоян-Гуревич МиГ-27 , NATO code name Flogger-D ) is a single-engine fighter aircraft that was developed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War . It is a further developed fighter-bomber variant of the MiG-23 .

history

At the end of the 1960s, the Soviet Union was concerned with the development of a fighter aircraft that would fight ground targets and carry out deep blows against enemy positions during the day. Further requirements were the greatest possible insensitivity to target acquisition interference attempts and sufficient ability to fight against enemy aircraft. In 1969 concrete work began on a further development of the MiG-23. On August 20, 1970, the MiG-23B fighter-bomber version with Pyotr M. Ostapenko on board had its maiden flight; on November 17, 1972, the first prototype, the MiG-27 initially called MiG-23BM, flew for the first time with Valery E. Menizki on board. The biggest differences for the MiG-23B / BN were the non-adjustable air intakes with shorter boundary layer cutting, the sechsläufige 30-mm automatic cannon (the first problems with the ammunition feed had), and increased to four tons of weapons load. Series production began in Irkutsk in 1973 and the model was officially used from 1975.

Compared to the MiG-23, the front of the new aircraft had been completely redesigned to give the pilot a better view. Furthermore, a terrain following radar, a new laser targeting system and a new landing gear were installed, with which the machine could also take off and land on temporary trains. However, the air-to-air radar was no longer required. In addition, the external load stations for weapons were arranged differently.

In practice, the MiG-27, especially the variant K, proved to be one of the most powerful Soviet aircraft developments. However, even excellently trained pilots reached their limits in view of the diversity of their technical possibilities. Western military experts assume that the aircraft's capabilities could only have been fully exploited by a two-man crew.

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27

Two Indian MiG-27s and two US Air Force F-15Cs

There were different versions of the MiG-27, each upgraded to carry the latest Soviet weapon systems: the MiG-27BM (from 1973) with improved flight characteristics, the MiG-27BK (from 1974) for missions with great penetration depth over enemy territory (new navigation, warning, jamming and attack systems with digital computers), the MiG-27K (from 1977) as a fighter-bomber, the MiG-27M (from 1978), a cheaper and simpler version, the MiG-27M (from 1982) as the last and most modern version of the aircraft. At the same time, older MiG-27s were modernized from 1982 and then given the abbreviation MiG-27D. The MiG-27J has an armored cockpit and a greatly increased weapon capacity.

The last machine rolled off the assembly line in 1986 in the Irkutsk aircraft factory, the main production site for the MiG-27. Today the last MiG-27 are in the process of being withdrawn from the Russian Air Force. However, the machines are not scrapped, but mostly stored. Technically inferior equipped MiG-27s were exported during Soviet times and are still in the arsenals of numerous countries. From 1986 India built a model called Bahadur (modernized MiG-27M) in 165 copies under license . The last of these were decommissioned on December 27, 2019. There have probably also been Chinese attempts to copy the MiG-27. The project, called Q-6, never went into series production.

variants

• MiG-27 (MiG-23BM) "Flogger-D" - first series version, project designation "32-25", 360 pieces built
• MiG-27D "Flogger" - the first series of MiG-27s modernized to "M" status, 304 pieces converted
• MiG-27H - improved combat value Indian version with improved avionics, litening target container and Elta EL / L-8222 jamming container
• MiG-27K "Flogger-J2" - with "Kaira" laser target illuminator, project designation "32-26", 197 pieces built
• MiG-27L "Flogger" - Indian export variant of improved combat value, also known as MiG-27M "Bahadur"
• MiG-27M "Flogger-J" - with laser rangefinder and target illumination device "Klen-PM", project name "32-29", 162 pieces built

Military users

•  India : 165
•  Kazakhstan : 40
•  Russia
•  Soviet Union
•  Sri Lanka : 10
•  Ukraine

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data (MiG-27)	Data (MiG-27K)	Data (MiG-27M)
crew	1
Length (with pitot tube)	14.040	17,140 m	17.070 m
span	13.965 m at a 16 ° arrow, 7.779 m at a 72 ° arrow
height	5.770 m
Wing area	37.270 m at a 16 ° arrow 34.160 m at a 72 ° arrow
Empty mass	11,030 kg	11,860 kg	11,256 kg
Payload	4,000 kg ammunition 4,530 kg (5,238 l) fuel (without additional container)
Takeoff mass	normal 16,070 kg maximum 19,560 kg	normal 16,900 kg maximum 20,390 kg	normal 16,270 kg maximum 19,786 kg
Engine	1 × Tumanski R-29B-300 with a maximum of 112.81 kN thrust (afterburner)
Top speed	1800 km / h (1350 km / h at low altitude)
Start speed at max. Takeoff mass	295 km / h		315 km / h
Landing speed at max. Landing mass	255 km / h	260 km / h
Service ceiling	practically 15,600 m
Max. Range (3 additional containers with 800 l each)	2,220 km	2,200 km
Takeoff route	900 m	950 m
Landing stretch with braking parachute	800 m	850 m

Armament

Three-sided tear

Fixed armament in the bow

• 1 × six-barreled 30-mm cannon Grjasew-Schipunow GSch-6-30

Gun loading of 4,000 kg at nine external load stations

Air-to-air guided missile

• Wympel R-60 infrared guided short - range missiles for self-defense
• various

Air-to-surface guided missile

• 2 × APU-68UM starting rails for 1 × Swesda Ch-23M (AS-7 "Kerry") each - radio-controlled (steering system: DELTA)
• 2 × APU-68UM3 starter rails for 1 × Swesda Ch-25MR (AS-10 "Karen-A") each - radio-controlled (steering system: DELTA)
• 2 × AKU-58 starting rails for 1 × GosMKB Wympel Ch-29L (AS-14 "Kedge") each - laser-guided
• 2 × AKU-58 start rails for 1 × GosMKB Wympel Ch-29T / TE (AS-14 "Kedge") each - TV-controlled
• 2 × AKU-58 launch rails for 1 × MKB Raduga Ch-59 "Owod" (AS-13 "Kingbolt") cruise missiles each

Unguided air-to-surface missiles

• 4 × UB-32-A73 rocket tube launch containers for 32 × unguided S-5 air-to-surface missiles each ; Caliber 57 mm
• 4 × B-8M1 rocket tube launch containers for 20 × unguided S-8 air-to-surface missiles each ; Caliber 80 mm
• 4 × APU-68UM3 rocket launch rails for one unguided S-24B air-to-surface missile each ; Caliber 240 mm

Guided bombs

• 2 × Region JSC KAB-500 L (laser-guided 500 kg bomb)

Unguided bombs

• 18 × Basalt FAB-100 (100 kg free-fall bomb )
• 6 × Basalt FAB-250 (250 kg free fall bomb)
• 6 × ODAB-500 (500 kg aerosol bomb )
• 6 × Basalt FAB-500 (500 kg free-fall bomb)
• 1 × TN-1000 (tactical free-fall nuclear bomb)

External container

• 2 × machine cannon container UPK-23-250, each with a double-barreled 23 mm machine cannon Gsch-23L with 250 rounds of ammunition
• 3 × drop-off additional tank PTB-800 for 800 liters of kerosene
• 1 × Tekon / Elektron APK-9E radio data transmission container for Ch-23, Ch-59
• 1 × litening target container
• 1 × Elta EL / L - 8212 - disturbance container

See also

• General Dynamics F-111
• List of aircraft types

literature

• Jefim Gordon : MiG-23/27 Flogger Soviet Swing-Wing Fighter / Strike Aircraft. Midland Publishing Ltd. Earl Shilton, 2005 ISBN 1-85780-211-X .
• MiG-27 fighter-bomber. Elbe-Dnjepr-Verlag, ISBN 3-933395-52-6 .

Web links

Commons : MiG-27  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• GlobalSecurity: MiG-27

Individual evidence

1. ^ Farewell to the MiG-27. In: Fliegerrevue No. 03/2020, p. 8
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Joachim Hoffmann (ed.): JBG-37 - Chronicle of a Fighter Bomb Air Wing 1971–1990. Semmler, Cottbus 2019, ISBN 978-3-935826-01-3 , p. 77
3. ↑ MiG-27K (MiG 23) Flogger Fighter Bomber - Airforce Technology. In: airforce-technology.com. Retrieved January 25, 2015 . 
4. ↑ AA-8 APHID. (No longer available online.) In: fas.org. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015 ; accessed on January 25, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Types of aircraft in the world . Models, technology, data. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-86047-593-2 , p. 633 (American English: The encyclopedia of world aircraft . Translated by Thema Produktmarketing und Werbung mbH, Munich).