Chapter 328: J-7 Vs. MiG-23

In fact, after the Mikoyan Design Bureau developed the MiG-21 and MiG-23, the comparison between the two fighters has been ongoing. The MiG-21 was developed earlier and there are not many of them in the Soviet equipment sequence. However, this fighter is very light and has excellent maneuverability. Even in a fight with an F-16, it has a certain chance of winning. In later generations, China continued to improve the MiG-21 into the J-7 and sold it to many countries, which shows that this fighter still has its merits.

Although the MiG-23 uses various advanced technologies, such as variable-sweep wings and advanced airborne radar, it is not suitable for close combat, just like the US F-4 fighter, and its operation is quite complicated.

For example, in Syria, after the Yom Kippur War, Syria obtained the Soviet MiG-23. Syrian pilots had a contradictory attitude towards the MiG-23. On the one hand, the more powerful turbojet engine, higher maximum speed and better reliability than the MiG-21 won the pilots' praise; on the other hand, the MiG-23 was not as good as the MiG-21PFM/MF in maneuverability, and the MiG-23's complex control system caused many Syrian and Libyan flight trainees to crash and die when trying to land. At that time, there was even a heated debate in the Syrian Air Force's highest command on "what to do with the MiG-23?"

Later, in 1978, Syria obtained the more advanced MiG-23MF, and they trusted the MiG-23 more than the MiG-21. And now, with Andre's time travel, the major facelift of the MiG-23 has far surpassed the historical MiG-23MF!

This is a battle without suspense!

The J-7 lacks long-range air combat capabilities, and beyond-visual-range air combat will not give the audience below any sensory enjoyment, so after the two fighters took off one after another, they began a dogfight at an altitude of 8,000 meters.

As a pilot, one must have a pair of sharp eyes. Wei Guangxiu skillfully operated the fighter plane, searching for possible Soviet planes in the vast sky.

Where is the other party? Due to the cockpit, the J-7 only has a forward view. After a careful search without results, Wei Guangxiu quickly pushed the control stick, pedaled the rudder, and began a large roll.

At the same time, in the huge overload, Wei Guangxiu finally saw the plane painted with five stars from the back hemisphere! The Soviet plane was actually behind him all along!

Wei Guangxiu turned on the afterburner and continued to turn sideways. The J-7 had good horizontal hovering performance, and he hoped to use the side turn to get a hold of the opponent's rear hemisphere.

Unfortunately, he only saw the shadow once! He turned his head back again, but he couldn't see it anymore! This meant that the other party had been following him closely and watching him tossing in the air!

Roll, turn, dive, pull up, no matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of the opponent! If it was in actual combat, the opponent would have shot him down countless times!

Looking at the J-7 in front of him, which had dropped from an altitude of 8,000 meters to 1,000 meters, but had never been able to get rid of him, Ostrov turned on the afterburner with satisfaction, pulled the operating lever, and began to climb vertically upwards.

Now, having consumed most of the fuel in the aircraft, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the fighter has long exceeded 1. The MiG-23 can climb upwards effortlessly, while the J-7 below, limited by its backward engine, can only climb slowly at a small angle of attack.

Just now, Ostrov turned on the radar first, and after finding the opponent's position, he flew directly around the opponent's rear and launched an attack. This was a bit of an unfair victory. But now, after fighting again, Ostrov wants to defeat the opponent fairly and let the Chinese see the true strength of the MiG-23!

After climbing to an altitude of 8,000 meters, Wei Guangxiu was already feeling a little depressed. The fact that the opponent had been able to keep up with his tail just now showed that the performance of the opponent's warships was far superior to that of the fighter plane he was driving!

If the J-7E, which was modified in later generations, had leading edge maneuvering flaps and double-barreled missiles, and was equipped with Kunlun engines, it would definitely be able to compete with the MiG-23MLA. But now, it is not because of its inferior skills, but because the fighter is not powerful enough!

Although Wei Guangxiu was in a low mood, he was not discouraged. Just as he was looking at the vast sea of ​​clouds, a bright spot rapidly expanded in his retina.

Right in front of me! The other party was actually rushing towards me like this!

Limited by the engine, the vertical maneuverability of the J-7 is poor, but the horizontal hovering ability is very good because of its light body! The opponent is actually rushing towards me from the horizontal direction, so I will definitely win!

Wei Guangxiu turned on the afterburner, pushed the operating lever, and went forward.

The other party probably doesn't know yet, I must have locked onto him, right? In the MiG-23 opposite, Ostrov, wearing a helmet sight, listened to the prompt sound of the fire control system in his headphones. If it was in actual combat, he would have already launched the missile! Infrared-guided missiles will not trigger the radar warning receiver. The other party can only see a rapidly expanding bright spot and then hear the violent explosion. This is an exciting moment.

The Chinese Air Force's equipment does not yet have any combat missiles that can be fired head-on. As for firing head-on with machine guns, that is simply suicide.

After turning off the fire control, Ostrov looked at the J-7 flying past from the side and knew that a new confrontation had begun.

Pull the stick, pedal the rudder, and under the control of the flight control system, the MiG-23's wings, which had just been swept back a large distance, slowly returned to a straight state. Then, at an incredibly small angle, the MiG-23 completed the turn!

Although the J-7 was agile enough, it was still far behind! Looking at the slow-moving J-7 in his field of vision, Ostrov easily caught up with the opponent's rear half in a high overload.

In the overload caused by continuous side turns, Wei Guangxiu, who had first-class physical fitness, tried hard to overcome the discomfort brought by the overload, while trying his best to turn his head to the side, hoping to see the Soviet plane.

Unfortunately, it was useless. Everywhere I looked, there was only a vast sky, and no fighter planes! Damn, how did the other party do it? The other party turned around and circled behind me? How is this possible? In the horizontal hovering ability that the J-7 is best at, it actually lost to the other party?

The voice of the ground commander came from the headset, the confrontation exercise is over, return to the field!

The battle between the two planes in the sky could be seen clearly from the ground.