MiG-23 Flogger

MiG-23 Flogger
General Info
Role	Light Fighter
Hangar level	7
Difficulty	★★★★☆
Durability	▰▰▱▱▱▱
Speed	▰▰▱▱▱▱
Agility	▰▰▰▱▱▱
Traits	cruising altitude swing wing unstable cannons
Base Stats
Hitpoints	115
Top speed	1148 km/h
Acceleration	50 m/s²
Turn rate	34 °/s
Ideal turning speed	810 km/h
Afterburner fuel	13.0 s

An early 70s swing-wing Light Fighter with a good mix of missiles and a cannon so powerful that [it] damages the plane if it is fired too long.

— In-game description

The MiG-23 Flogger is a light fighter from the 1970s era. Although difficult to master, its swing wing design that reduces drag and retains energy and speed. This, coupled with strong engine performance and mix of short range, and medium range missiles, allows it to excel in boom-and-zoom tactics. Its missiles are quick to lock and have a wide lock reticle angle, at the expense of lesser damage. Its internal assault cannon is the most powerful cannon in the skies. Firing the cannon produces a distinct roar. Firing the cannon for too long will overheat the cannon and cause damage to the airframe. Pilots skilled to handle the MiG-23 Flogger will find it exciting to fly, and advantageous in both Team Death Match and in Air Superiority.

Loadout

The MiG-23 Flogger is equipped with short range ×4 heat-seeking missile, mid-range ×2 manual missile, a devastatingly powerful internal assault cannon with medium armor piercing ammunition. MiG-23 Flogger is also equipped with ×4 flares.

Type	Max Damage (DPS)	Ideal Range (km)	Reticle Range (km)	Spin-up Time (s)	Spread	Overheat Time (s)	Ammo	Armor Piercing
Assault cannon	564	0.4	0.9	1.3	low	2.6	∞	medium

Guidance	Range Type	Range (km)	Quantity	Damage	Speed (km/h)	Turn Rate (°/s)	Lock Angle (°)	Lock Time (s)
Heat-seeking missile	Short range	2.1	4	60	3240	15	10	0.8
Manual missile	Medium range	6.0	2	75	4680	15	7	0.8

Special Ability

The MiG-23 Flogger has a special ability called Flare Burst. When activated, it instantly defeats the lock of all incoming missiles, defeats an opponents lock progress, and prevents new lock progress for up to four seconds. There is a cooldown period between uses. It also decreases opponents' cannon lead by 30%.

Veteran tips

The MiG-23 Flogger's stand-out attributes are its acceleration, its speed, and its loadout. It has a long-lasting afterburner, and a special higher cruising altitude where its engine becomes more efficient and provides more speed with less fuel consumption. This, coupled with a special low-drag swing wing, the MIG-23 Flogger can achieve impressive speeds. The drawback to this speed is higher optimal turning speeds. Although a formidable dogfighter, it is suggested to avoid close-in maneuvering where agility suffers, and employ a boom-and-zoom tactic where its fast to lock missiles are an advantage. The special swing wing design can be challenging to master. The two medium range manually guided missiles have a longer-than-average range and a quick lock time. The compromise is low damage from these missiles. The four short range heat-seeking missiles have a quick lock time and a large reticle angle. Also, there is a compromise in low damage from these missiles. The cannon is slow to spin up, and the firing distance is short. It will take quick reactions from a pilot to shoot an opponent head on. When firing the cannon at an opponents tail, the damage dealt is both impressive and devastating. If played on mobile, the cannon produces a loud roar, and a satisfying vibration feedback haptic. Its Flare Burst special ability is powerful, in that it breaks all opponent missile lock, while also simultaneously decreasing an opponents cannon lead. During the Flare Burst time, the aircraft is immune to missile lock for four seconds.

Trivia

In-game, the MiG-23 Flogger appears to be modeled after the Mig-23MLD Flogger-K, which was the ultimate fighter variant. 560 examples of this variant were equipped with pair of six-round downward-firing chaff/flare dispensers mounted in the under fuselage centerline pylon, complemented by the two thirty-round upward-firing BVP-50-60 chaff/flare dispenser on the wing root, which greatly improve survivability. In-game the MiG-23 Flogger high powered cannon appears to be modeled after the 30 mm GSh-6-30 six-barrel fuselage mounted cannon that was tested on the MiG-27M Flogger-J which was a reworked MiG-23B for dedicated ground attack. It was found in early testing that because of the heavy recoil from cannon, bursts longer than two or three seconds often led to permanent damage to the airframe. Test pilot V. N. Kondaurov described the first firing of the GSh-6-30А; "As I imposed the central mark on the air target and pressed the trigger to shoot, I heard such noise that I involuntarily drew my hand aside. The whole plane began to vibrate from the shooting and had almost stopped from the strong recoil of the gun. The pilotless target, which was just making a turn ahead of me, was literally disintegrating into pieces. I have hardly come to my senses from unexpectedness and admiration: This is a caliber! Such a beast! If you hit something — it will be plenty enough [to wipe it out]" In early Beta, the MiG-23 Flogger was equipped with a load out of two external gun pods, lesser amount of air-to-air missiles, and conventional flares.

Paints

The MiG-23 Flogger has 8 different paints available, including the default, and Beta Exclusive.

Name	Unlock requirement	Rarity	Image
Factory Gray	Default	Basic
Boneyard	65 gold	Uncommon
Swoosh	65 gold	Uncommon
Frostbite Splinter Camo	65 gold	Uncommon
Peregrine	99 gold	Rare
120th Fighter Aviation Regiment	99 gold	Rare
Krampus	149 gold	Epic
Revenant	149 gold	Epic