Soviet Spyplanes of The Cold War

'Spy in the Sky' matters have long been a source of interest and fascination for aircraft enthusiasts, historians and modellers and none more so than the elusive and secretive Soviet types of the Cold War era.

This Aerofax title is a detailed history of the development and operation of the Soviet interceptor, the MiG-23/27, code named Flogger in the west.

In the era of the Cold War, the military planners on both sides of the Iron Curtain were well aware of the threat to their security from both bombers that could carry nuclear weapons and spyplanes. Thus it was deemed essential to have fast fighter aircraft which could intercept and destroy such incoming threats. The MiG-23 was developed to succeed the MiG-21 as the standard Soviet interceptor. It was a major advance on the earlier aircraft. Its swing-wing configuration was a generation on from its predecessor. Deliveries began in 1972 and more than 3,000 aircraft were built before production ended in 1986.

After World War II ended, the United States and the Soviet Union began competing for primacy in a global struggle pitting democracy against communism. As the Soviets seized military and political control in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, turning them into a series of satellite states, the United States and Britain could see that a new Cold War had begun. Tensions between the two superpowers led to such confrontations as the Berlin blockade, the downing of an American U-2 spy plane, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. "Hot" wars erupted in Korea and Vietnam.