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MiG-21LSh attack aircraft

Work was carried out to create an armored MiG-21LSh attack aircraft. In June 1969, the pre-project MiG-21LSH, together with the T-8 OKB P.O.Sukhoi, went to the final of the competition. The Mikoyan projects submitted to the competition were variations on the theme of the well-regarded MiG-21, which promised time savings and cheaper aircraft and, in general, met the requirements of a customer who insisted on a supersonic car at a speed near the ground of at least 1200 km / h (this condition was in TTT it was dictated by ensuring the survival of the aircraft during an air defense breakthrough and was based on data on the capabilities of the main Hawk air defense system in NATO armies, the combat effectiveness of which sharply decreased at the indicated speeds of low-altitude targets).

Initially, the Design Bureau proposed the transformation of a simple and reliable MiG-21 fighter into the MiG-21Sh attack aircraft in the shortest possible way. It was supposed to get by with "little blood" - to install on the MiG-21 a new wing of an increased area with six weapons suspension units and new sighting and navigation equipment. However, calculations and estimates showed that it is unlikely to be able to solve the problem “head on” with the required efficiency. It was decided to significantly modernize the design of the "twenty-first", to pay more attention to issues of survivability and weapons. Work on a new topic, which received the index "27", was carried out immediately on two projects: MiG-27Sh and "27-11".

The first aircraft was created on the basis of the MiG-21, but as a result, only the tail part of the fuselage with plumage remained from it in the new aircraft, the rest was redesigned. The MiG-21Sh received a low-lying trapezoidal wing of a large area, side air intakes, an afterburning engine, a short nose and a cabin with good visibility. To protect small arms and shell fragments from fire, the pilot's cabin was designed fully armored. The armament of the machine was represented by a double-barreled 23 mm GSh-23 (AO-9) gun, bombs and NAR weighing up to three tons, placed at nine external points of the suspension.

The basis of these projects, the MiG-21, was no longer the last achievement of design thought. The modernization, which left little to the prototype, in fact resulted in the creation of a new aircraft, and the promised combat effectiveness did not keep up with the costs and did not provide the desired quality leap. The customer also expressed dissatisfaction with the diversion of forces and resources from the priority theme - the MiG-23 aircraft with a variable geometry wing, the broad prospects of which, as it was then seen, at once solved many problems. Work on the creation of a fighter-bomber was continued on the basis of the MiG-23 and led to the creation of the MiG-23B and MiG-27.