The Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-8 was a

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

jet fighter Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domination o ...

developed in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, intended to replace the

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...

(originally named ''MiG-23''). Only two prototypes were built in 1960-61. The original MiG-21's air intakes were moved under the fuselage, freeing up the nose where a larger and more powerful

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

, able to deliver longer range

air-to-air missile The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back) An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...

s, could be built in. Canards were built to both sides of the nose, in front of the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

, (the

horizontal stabilizer A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplan ...

s of MiG-21 were left at their original position). The two prototypes flew in 1962. On September 11, 1962, the

Tumansky R-21F-300 The Tumansky R-21 was a Soviet turbojet engine of the 1960s. Used for development only, the project was canceled. Design and development The Tumansky R-21 was developed at Tushino motor plant (part of OKB-300), headed by Nikolai Georgievich ...

engine, also under development, exploded in midair at a speed of Mach 2.15. Test pilot Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov, then one of the leading Soviet

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

s, was severely injured by debris from the compressor and had to eject at Mach 1.78. Due to unsolved technical problems, the aircraft's development was abandoned; some parts were used on the

MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generatio ...

, including R-23 missiles and their associated ''Sapfir-23'' radar. Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-8 3-view line drawing

Specifications

References

* *

External links

* * {{Mikoyan aircraft Ye-008 1960s Soviet fighter aircraft Abandoned military aircraft projects of the Soviet Union Single-engined jet aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1962

Specifications

See also

References

External links