Love this. The MiG-23BN at Akash Officers Mess in Delhi where the IAF chief held his annual press conference today. That’s right, it’s a very slow day. Gotta love the bird though.
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PHOTOS: The MiG-23BN At IAF Akash Officers’ Mess
Sorry it looks a one ugly bird.
Looking at the nose, it looks like MiG 27 to me.
no it is a mig-23. i have seen the plaque.
mig 27 was a derivative of 23 platform
Looked like Mig 27 because it is Without radar Nose
Hallmark for difference between
Mig 27 & 23
Mig-23 was a formidable a/c with India during those times. Fortunately it could partake in the actions at Siachen and Kargil.
sorry it is indeed a MIG 23BN.
http://www.skyline-apa.com.au/images/IAF-a2.jpg
Is the Indian flag on the aircraft's tail been depicted in right order..??
Earlier, Akash Mess had a Marut on display along with an Ajeet. The planes were taken off when Delhi Urban Arts Commission objected on the ground that the planes spoiled the colonial architectural look. How come the planes are back now? Where have Marut and Ajeet gone? I prefer the desi stuff over the MiGs any day.
Shiv, please let Vayu Bhavan know about Mahendra's preference.
I did not know that the Marut and Ajeet were "desi" like us….
The Marut's underpowered engine was an Orpheus and its designer was a German… but HAL built it.
And the Ajeet was but a Gnat… oh and HAL also built it.
So HAL did not assemble any 23's to make them desi?
Desi? Indeed.
I will be happy if the captured SinoPaki a/c are displaced at some right places.
@ Heberian,
So according to you, Viggen and Gripen aren't Swedish planes because the engine isn't Swedish? Try getting hold of 1970s editions of Observer's Aircraft or Janes and search in the index for HAL. When you reach the pages for Marut and Ajeet, you'll notice that the "Country of Origin" for both these planes is mentioned as "India" which is not the case with MiG 23BN or other IAF combat aircraft. There's probably some logic behind what these publications state.
How much does it cost to buy one such ?
@ Mahendra Singh-
There is no need to go for the '70s Observers/Janes, I agree listings do have country of origin as India for the Marut and the Ajeet.
That said, comparing the Marut/Ajeet to the Viggen/Gripen is not correct.
To some extent the Marut can be compared to the SAAB planes, but think about it, its almost completely a German idea and British engine…
The Gripen/Viggen are completely Swedish designs, with foreign derived engines.
In fact, for the Viggen, the Swedes used an American COMMERCIAL A/C ENGINE to come up with their ground attack a/c requirement!! "Jugaad" at its best..and quite uniquely & effectively Swedish.
To try and prove your point, instead of pointing out the Swedish planes, highlighting the LCA would have done, considering its engines arent Indian!
But I think you must have realized that the key to this is about the country of design…
If you look at these planes by country of design, then:
Marut – India (Though the designer and most of the design team were Germans AND engines were British)
Ajeet (licence built by HAL with improved controls etc) – UK
Viggen/ Gripen – Sweden
LCA – India ( Engines by GE!!)
Considering that Mig 27's ( derivatives of Mig 23's) were assembled in India with many improvement, they should be Indian origin a/c according to your logic for the Ajeets….
And frankly, the Mig 23 does look better than the Ajeet etc.
And Shiv's pics were quite nice as well. So why say "desi"/ "not desi" when the 23's served the seriously "desi" Air Force quite well for a long period?
🙂
This is a Mig 27 the ground attack version of the Mig 23 still in service at Indian Air Force
This is the ground attack MiG-23BN was based on MiG-23B, but had the same R-29-300 engine as contemporary fighter variants. They were also fitted with "type 3" wings. There were other minor changes in electronics and equipment, one step from the real Mig-27