MiG-23 Flogger in the Middle East: Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-23 in Service in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Syria, 1973-2018

Following a protracted research and development phase, Mikoyan Gurevich’s MiG-23 finally entered service with the former Soviet Air Force in the early 1970s. Almost immediately, a number of foreign customers pressed Moscow for deliveries of this long-overdue type, expected to succeed the popular MiG-21 as a standard interceptor. Correspondingly, large numbers of MiG-23 interceptors and fighter-bombers were exported to five major Arab air forces in the mid-1970s.

This is a detailed history of...