Some background:When it became clear in the 1980s that the sub-sonic aircraft were inadequate for air combat and airspace interdiction, Austria purchased 24 reconditioned J 35 Draken fighter aircraft to supersede the Saab 105 as the Austrian Air Force's main interceptor in 1988. The Saab 105 remained in service as a trainer/surveillance aircraft.
Until 1985, when the first of twenty-four Saab J-35Ö Drakens were delivered, the country had remained essentially without the capacity to contest violations of its airspace. The Drakens, reconditioned after having served the Swedish Air Force since the early 1960s, were armed only with a cannon, in accordance with the restrictions on missiles in the State Treaty of 1955.
However, following Austria's revised interpretation of its obligations under the treaty, a decision was made in 1993 to procure Sidewinder air-to-air missiles (also from Sweden) and, after several incidents with Yugoslavian aircraft entering Austrian airspace in the early 1990ies, to enhance the country's defence capabilities.
Being a neutral state with limited resources, the Austrian government was pleased when its neighbor Germany made an unexpected proposal in early 1991: When East and West Germany unified, the West German Air Force inherited in 1990 18 MiG-23BNs, 9 MiG-23MFs, 28 MiG-23MLs, MiG-23UBs from East Germany. None of these aircraft were integrated into the West German Air Force, though.
Twelve former East German MiG-23s were supplied to the U.S., but surplus airframes, which would otherwise have been scrapped, were offered to Austria for the symbolic price of 1€ per airframe.
Since phaseout of the Austrian Drakens was already scheduled to begin about 1995, these potential replacement aircraft would buy time and fill the gap for a modern interceptor. Studies were already under way to select a Draken replacement, probably one that could be configured for both air defense and ground support missions. Possible replacements for the Draken were the United States F-16, F-18 as well as Sweden's JAS 39 Gripen. In parallel, the Eurofighter project was already taking up pace as another potential option, and this aircraft was finally favored, even though many political issues delayed its service entry far more than expected.
The MiG-23 deal was quickly finalized, and already in late 1991 a total of 18 former NVA-LSK MiG-23ML interceptors were transferred to Austrian Air Force's "Fliegerwerft B" at Nittner Air Base, where they'd be overhauled and updated with NATO-compatible equipment.
In order to fit into service and existing systems, several modifications were made. The most significant one was the integration of a new planar array radar, the Emerson AN/APG-69. The APG-69 offered beyond visual range capability and a complete suite of air-to-air and air-to-ground modes. The air-to-air modes included velocity search for long-range wide-angle searches, track-while-scan, single target track and dogfight modes that locked onto the closest target.
The air-to-ground modes included Doppler-Beam Sharpening mapping, moving target search and track, and even sea-surface-search modes. The new radar was more reliable and had a maximum detection range of about 65 km against a fighter-sized target, and still 25 km in look-down mode. The MiG’s navigation suite received a new, much improved autopilot. New radio and datalink systems were also installed. The original TP-23ML IRST was retained and integrated into the weapon suite, offering passive tracking capabilities.
Despite being able to carry and guide the AIM-7 Sparrow missile with its APG-69, the MiG-23Ö, how the modified version was now called, would only be equipped with short-range AIM-9P5 all aspect Sidewinders, unguided missiles and a single internal 30mm ADEN cannon, which replaced the MiG-23's original, twin-barreled Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23-2 cannon under the fuselage.
The first aircraft became operational in May 1993 and were to be exclusively used in the interceptor role, as a stopgap and relief for the Saab 35Ö while waiting for the Eurofighter to become available. The latter took much longer than expected: eventually, the venerable MiG-23Ö soldiered on until - finally - the Eurofighter was ready for service in Austria in July 2007, and at that time only 8 MiGs were still in flyworthy condition. The Austrian Drakens had already been taken out of service in 2005, leaving a huge gap in the country's aerial defence. All remaining MiG-23Ö were scrapped and replaced by a total of 15 Eurofighter aircraft, which were all allocated to 3rd Air Surveillance Squadron at Zeltweg AB.
General characteristics Crew: One
Length: 16.70 m (56 ft 9.5)
Wingspan: Spread, 13.97 m (45 ft 10 in)
Height: 4.82 m (15 ft 9.75 in)
Wing area: 37.35 m² spread, 34.16 m² swept (402.05 ft² / 367.71 ft²)
Empty weight: 9,595 kg (21,153 lb)
Loaded weight: 15,700 kg (34,612 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 18,030 kg (39,749 lb)
Powerplant: 1× Khatchaturov R-35-300 afterburning turbojet, 83.6 kN dry, 127 kN afterburning (18,850 lbf / 28,700 lbf)
Performance: Maximum speed: Mach 2.32, 2,445 km/h at altitude; Mach 1.14, 1,350 km/h at sea level (1,553 mph / 840 mph)
Range: 1,150 km with six AAMs combat, 2,820 km ferry (570 mi / 1,750 mi)
Service ceiling: 18,500 m (60,695 ft)
Rate of climb: 240 m/s (47,245 ft/min)
Wing loading: 420 kg/m² (78.6 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 0.88
Armament: 1x 30mm ADEN cannon in an underfuselage fairing with 200 rounds
Two fuselage, two wing glove, and two wing pylons for up to 3,000 kg (6,610 lb) of stores
Eigentlich war/ist diese MiG-23 von Academy eine Entschuldigung, dass ich (mal wieder) einen der experimentellen Anstriche der deutschen Luftwaffe in den späten 70ern/frühen 80ern auf ein Modell umsetzten konnte. In diesem Fall stammt der Anstrich von einer F-4F, nämlich "38+56" - hier das einzige Foto der Maschine, das ich finden konnte, ich habe aber eine Dreiseiten-Ansicht als Referenz verwendet:
Verlinkt von milavia.net
Das Übertragen hat ganz gut geklappt, bis auf den "Hüftbereich", wo die MiG etwas andere Kurven hat... Der Bausatz ist fast OOB gebaut, mit kleinen Änderungen wir einem anderen Kanonenbehälter, ein neuer Schleudersitz nebst Pilot und die Sidewinder nebst Startschienen, sowie ein paar Pitots und Sensoren am Rumpf aus dünnem Draht.
Die Grundfarben für das komplexe, asymmetrische Schema sind RAL 6014 (Gelboliv, I habe RLM 81 und FS 34087 von Modelmaster verwendet), RAL 7000 (Fehgrau, Humbrol 145/FS 34237 kommt dem sehr nahe) und ein abgedunkeltes RAL 7035 (habe Humbrol 127 verwendet, auch auf den Flanken); von unten soll das Splinter-Schema aus RAL 7001 und 7035 bestehen, ich habe statt dessen Modelmaster's "Italian Blue Grey" und RAL 63 benutzt.
Österreich war eine spontane Idee, auch nachdem ich die Farben gecheckt hatte - im Gebirge erweist sich der Anstrich als überraschend effektiv (siehe Bilder oben). Und warum auch nicht? Wer alte Draken fliegt hat sicher nichts gegen billige MiGs aus ex-NVA-Beständen? Die Konkarden stehen ihr jedenfalls gut, und die Story ist auch nicht schlecht...
Thema: What if? Mikoyan-Gurewich MiG-23Ö; 2. Luftüberwachungsst., Österr. Luftwaffe, 1996 (Gelesen 4771 mal)
