The world's largest aerospace museum - the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC - has a notable exhibit corner. Side by side, with their nasal air intakes slightly turned towards each other, are two irreconcilable opponents: the American Phantom F-4 and the Soviet MiG-21. Eternal rivals, longtime enemies, who first faced each other in the Vietnam War - and continued the confrontation for more than two decades.
Hereinafter - quotes from the article "Winged Legend:" Flying Kalashnikov "", published last week on the Internet.
In the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, there is no Phantom or MiG-21.
And then - according to the list. Washington does not have "the world's largest aerospace museum." And there are no “eternal rivals and old enemies” either. The Soviet MiG-21 and the American Phantom almost never met each other.
The categorical “never” is quite appropriate in this context. Several dozen episodes in more than two decades of continuous wars. Now they like to argue about the results of those aerial battles. Are we theirs, or are they us? Yes, what's the difference, the result was probably with an equal score, moreover, it did not matter against the background of the general situation in the sky. All these battles “MiG-21 vs Phantom” are a statistical error due to the theory of probability and random coincidence of events.
In Vietnam, the cause of 3/4 of the combat losses of aircraft was barrel artillery. An unprecedented air defense system in the history of world wars was organized in the Hanoi region: over 7,000 anti-aircraft guns with a caliber of over 37 mm! The Americans ran up against this wall of fire, suffering colossal losses.
At low altitudes - a firestorm. On the big ones - hell and doom. The Union supplied Vietnam with 60 divisions of the S-75 Dvina air defense system and 7500 powerful anti-aircraft missiles to them.
What then remains for the MiGs?
The slanting one who commanded the interrogation answered me:
"You were shot down by anti-aircraft gunner Li Xi Tsin."
It is worth noting that the official losses of American aircraft (Air Force, Navy, Marines) for all the years of the war amounted to 3,374 aircraft. Three thousand three hundred! Of which only a quarter was accounted for by the famous "Phantoms". And the other three quarters? “Skyhawks”, “Skyreaders”, “Super Sabers”, “Thunderchiefs” … Almost always knocked out by fire from the ground.
Due to its small size and poor equipment, the Air Force of the DRV did not mean anything. As a rule, the Vietnamese operated from ambushes, from camouflaged jump airfields, occasionally attacking enemy strike groups.
Instead of the swift MiG-21, the outdated MiG-17 was the main fighter type of the North Vietnamese Air Force. It was this nimble subsonic vehicle with powerful cannon armament and minimal wing loading that was the main (albeit very rare) nuisance in the air. The second largest in the DRA Air Force was the J-6 (Chinese copy of the MiG-19).
Something similar was observed with the enemy. "Phantom" became the main type of combat aircraft only towards the end of the war. In the early years, the main force of the US Air Force was considered the F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bombers (382 aircraft that did not return).
The opportunity to meet Vietnamese aircraft undoubtedly added adrenaline to the Phantom pilots. But, to be honest, the chance of the Phantom meeting with the MiG, and even the rare model 21, was two orders of magnitude lower than the chance of getting an 85 mm shell fragment into the hydraulic system.
All these conversations “Phantom vs MiG” are not worth the candle. The first, loaded with bombs, rushed between heaven and earth, choosing from two evils (anti-aircraft guns or air defense systems). The second - often did not have the opportunity to get off the ground.
Near East
I'm running to takeoff on the sand
The helmet is fastened on the go, My Mirage with the Star of David -
The power and pride of Hel Avira, With a roar, it is gaining height …
The French Mirage was traditionally the irreconcilable rival of the MiG-21 in the Middle East.
Mirage IIIS of the Swiss Air Force
It combined the best of the fighters of its generation. Highest maneuverability. Excellent radar Thompson Cyrano with an instrumental range of 50 km, capable of notifying the pilot of obstacles exceeding a given height and finding radio-contrast objects on the ground. Indicator on the windshield (the world's first CSF97 ILS), which made it possible to reduce the information load on the pilot and simplify aiming in air combat. Two “conventional” missiles with IR seeker and one long-range Matra R.530 with a radar guidance head and a warhead weighing 30 kg. However, the pilots of Hal Aavir relied more on the proven Mirage cannons, which could “shred” the enemy in a split second (two DEFA 30 mm caliber). There was also an additional liquid-propellant engine - 80 seconds of solid fire - with the help of it, the Mirage could get out of the battle with an arrow and soar up to 29 kilometers.
All in all, the Dassault Mirage III had too many advantages to reckon with. The Soviet and Arab pilots treated the Phantom with some disdain, considering it less dangerous than the French tailless.
And this Phantom appeared too late! The Six Day War passed without him. The first F-4s appeared in the Middle East only in September 1969.
It is still a mystery why the Israelis bought these cars. With the "Mirages" there were problems in connection with the French arms embargo (1967). In the conditions of the Middle East theater of operations, the best replacement could be the F-5 "Tiger". The proximity of airfields to the front line and maneuverable cannon battles are precisely the conditions under which this fighter was created.
The choice in favor of the heavy "Phantom" was due to two circumstances.
Its combat radius, as a result of which the F-4 acquired the properties of a regional "strategic" bomber, capable of reaching targets deep in Egypt.
And the presence of these machines in the US Air Force, which made it easier to replenish combat losses, without attracting too much attention from European countries.
On the whole, Fantômas was a complete log, whose characteristics were hardly compensated for by the high training of Hel Aavir pilots. In aerial battles, the F-4s preferred to keep aloof, firing missiles at the gaping MiGs. Mirages continued to carry out all the main work.
Crew - 2 people. Normal takeoff weight is 18 tons. Heavy interceptor with missile weapons (4 "Sidewinder" with thermal guidance + 4 long-range "Sparrow" with RLGSN) and "modern" avionics, assembled from monstrous microcircuits of the 1960s.
As practice has shown, the Yankees were too hasty. The era of air-to-air missiles will come a little later, with the development of electronics.
And the Phantom remained strumming its useless rockets.
His “eternal rival” MiG-21 was no better. Only instead of the Westinghouse multifunctional radar, capable of directing missile launchers, and an infrared sighting system for ground targets, the MiG had only an RP-21 radio sight.
And instead of eight missiles - two (K-13, a copy of the "Sidewinder" with thermal guidance).
Weak armament was partly compensated by the speed of the aircraft - according to the recollections of the pilots, "21" at a speed of 900 km / h could complete a barrel in a second.
Being empty, the MiG-21 was 2.5 times lighter than the Phantom. Normal takeoff weight is 8 tons.
As in the Phantom, the cannon on the MiG was at first completely absent. The possibility of hanging a container with GSh-23 appeared only in 1964. Built-in guns began to be installed, starting with the modification of the MiG-21M (1968).
Perhaps it will shock someone, but the Phantom had a built-in cannon much earlier (F-4E, the most numerous series, 1965). And the gun itself was more decent - a six-barreled Vulcan with 640 rounds of ammunition (versus 200 for the GSh-23L).
So you still need to see how "MiGs drove Phantoms armed with missiles from cannons." If, of course, they met in the air at all …
As for the Middle East, the MiG-21 spent the Six Day War, like most of the war of attrition, in the sky without the Phantom.
The only opportunity to meet is the Yom Kippur War (1973). Israeli aviation losses range from 109 (Hal Aavir) to 262 (Soviet data) aircraft and helicopters of all types. As always, the vast majority of aircraft were shot down by fire from the ground.
Then how many aircraft were lost in aerial combat? And how many of them were there exactly "Phantoms"?
The answer is too obvious. Quite a bit. So little that no one noticed.
The MiG-21 rarely met its "sworn enemy", and nothing depended on the results of these meetings.
As time went. By the end of the 70s, the F-15 and F-16 became the main enemy of MiGs in the skies of Palestine. And the MiG-21 itself has already faded into the background, giving way to the more modern MiG-23.
How often did MiG-21 and Phantom fight?
With each other - almost never.
Against others - as much as necessary. Vietnam - "Phantom" burns the jungle with napalm. Indo-Pakistani conflict - Pakistani Starfighters smash MiGs. Vietnam - Phantom continues to burn with napalm; Egyptian-Libyan Massacre (1977) - MiGs fight Mirages Ethiopian-Somali War (1978) - MiGs fight their own kind, as well as the F-5 Tiger. Afghan war - "MiGs" smash the mujahideen. Iranian-Iraqi war - several meetings of the 21s with the Phantoms were recorded. Nevertheless, the main enemy of the MiGs in this war was the F-5 Tiger, which is confirmed by the statistics of victories and defeats.
All this once again indicates that, even being the same age, both superheroes did not have time to get into the same theater of military operations. In addition to shooting each other, they had many other, much more serious opponents. And the rapid progress in aviation finally ruled out the possibility of any "long-standing enmity".
Evolution
Like most models of military equipment, the MiG and Phantom went through several cycles of modernization. The last member of the family (MiG-21-93) completely changed the concept of the MiG-21. Equipped with a helmet-mounted target designation system and a spear radar, it acquired the ability to use medium-range missile launchers. In other words, it went beyond a light front-line fighter designed for maneuverable short-range combat.
Nevertheless, by the beginning of the 90s, the modernization potential of the structure was completely exhausted. By the beginning of the new century, the MiG-21 was hopelessly outdated. Just as outdated and its "eternal rival" - "Phantom."
The miniature size and layout of the MiG-21 prevented an increase in the combat load and the installation of a new avionics (what is the maximum diameter of the radar antenna installed in the nose cone of this “flying tube”?). The Phantom is no better: with its specific thrust and high wing loading, there is nothing even to dream of fighting modern fighters.
Its main rival, the Phantom, is now serving only in the Iranian aviation, where 225 aircraft remain in service.
Besides Iran, about 70 Phantoms are still in service with the Japanese Air Force.
47 "Phantoms" in service with the Turkish Air Force. 40 from South Korea. 50 off Greece. Germany decommissioned its last F-4F in June 2013.
"Phantom" of the Luftwaffe takes off from a / b Shauliai (Lithuania, 2011)
This is not to say that anyone likes to fly on outdated trash. Especially when generation “5” fighters are hovering in the sky. But there is nothing to do - money for the purchase of new aircraft is allocated for a long time and reluctantly. “What are summer shoes? You didn’t wear skates”.
Behind the front-line fighter MiG-21 - service in the air forces of 48 countries of the world, which is an absolute record for combat jet aircraft.
There is no limit to the breadth of the Russian soul. Like the F-5 "Freedom Fighter", the MiG was given into every good (and bad) hands. They were always given away free of charge, through all kinds of "military aid" programs - in exchange for the loyalty of the satellite countries to their overlord.
As a result, "Freedom Fighter" (Tiger) was only slightly behind the MiG, having entered service in 35 countries of the world. As of 2015, there are still about 500 fighters of this type flying around the world.
But "Phantom" sounded badly. All the same, the car is expensive and specific. It would be unwise to give away for free to everyone. As a result, the Americans managed to attach the Phantom only to the air forces of 11 countries.
It is curious that the most successful fighter of that era, despite the deafeningly successful combat use, did not receive much distribution. The French did not believe in friendship and demanded to pay in currency, as a result, "Mirage III" entered service in less than 10 countries. But what! Israel, Australia, Switzerland …
The French showed a touching concern for “our smaller brothers”. For the most inadequate buyers, a simplified version was built ("Mirage 5") - without a radar at all, with a labor-intensive service of 15 person-hours. for 1 hour flight. There were also buyers - Zaire, Colombia, Gabon … However, a simple fighter-bomber for operations in the daytime fell in love with the same Israel (unlicensed copy, "Nesher").
Currently, "Mirages" continue to be in service. In the Egyptian Air Force, the Mirage 5 serves side by side with its old acquaintance, the MiG-21.
Epilogue
The purpose of this satirical article is to expose the myths of the Cold War. The actual use of aviation looked different from the staged pictures “pilots are on alert”, “MiG attacks Phantom”.
In fact, these were terrible combat vehicles that shed rivers of human blood.
… And it was not by chance that the MiG-21 appeared in the National Museum of Aviation and Cosmonautics in Washington.
In some US aerospace museums, there is indeed an exposition "MiG vs Phantom". This photo is likely from Virginia.
Why did the Americans put the MiG next to the Phantom? Otherwise, how will they explain to the children with whom their fathers fought? Do not put a model of a hut and figures of Vietnamese partisans next to it …
A correct exposure would look like this: An F-4E Phantom II with eight 500 pound bombs rests its nose against the barrel of a rusty KS-18 anti-aircraft gun (85 mm caliber).
The MiG-21 is also well done, did not disappoint.
On January 9, another convoy from Termez to Faizabad was covered. There was a motorized rifle regiment, with trucks and equipment, covered with "armor" from the head and tail. The column passed Talukan and headed towards Kishim. Stretching out, the column formed a gap of a kilometer, where there was no "armor" or fire weapons. The rebels struck there.
From our Chirchik regiment, the first to raise a pair of flight commander Captain Alexander Mukhin, who was in readiness number 1 at his plane. A group of management flew out after him. The excitement was great, everyone wanted to fight, to be noted in the case. Upon returning, the commanders immediately changed the plane, transferring to the prepared fighters that were waiting. The rest had to be content with sitting in the cabs in readiness, waiting in line. The pilots flew in excited, told just like in a movie about Chapaev: they fired NURS from UB-32 blocks at a crowd of cavalry and foot spooks, practically in an open area. Then they chopped up pretty well …
