The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is considered to belong to the Soviet third-generation jet fighter category, along with similarly aged Soviet fighters such as the MiG-25 "Foxbat". It was the first attempt by the Soviet Union to design look-down/shoot-down radar and one of the first to be armed with beyond visual range missiles, and the first MiG production fighter aircraft to have intakes at the sides of the fuselage. Production started in 1970 and reached large numbers with over 5,000 aircraft built. Today the MiG-23 remains in limited service with various export customers.

The basic design was also used as the basis for the Mikoyan MiG-27, a dedicated ground-attack variant. Among many minor changes, the MiG-27 replaced the MiG-23's nose-mounted radar system with an optical panel holding a laser designator and a TV camera. Ground-attack variants of the MiG-23 were also produced, and these generally saw better export success, retaining more multi-mission capability.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MLD "Flogger-K" Fighter that served with the 120th IAP, then deployed to Afghanistan during 1988. Pre-order! Ship Date: November 2026.

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 7-3/4-inches
Length: 9-1/4-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Afghanistan" - The 120th Separate Guards Brest Order of Suvorov 3rd Class Fighter Aviation Regiment is a fighter aviation regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Based at Domna, the regiment is part of the 11th Air and Air Defense Forces Army and flies the Sukhoi Su-30SM.

Formed in Belarus beginning in 1969 as the 120th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Force due to Sino-Soviet tensions, the regiment relocated to Domna near the border with China two years later and served there under the 23rd Air Army, operating the MiG-21 and then the MiG-23. Receiving high ratings in training exercises, the regiment was deployed to fight in the Soviet-Afghan War in 1988 and was the last Soviet aviation regiment to withdraw from Afghanistan when it departed in early 1989. Re-equipped with the MiG-29 during the 1990s, the regiment inherited the traditions of the disbanded 189th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment in 1998, becoming the 120th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.

After its disbandment in 2009 during the reform of the Russian Air Force, the aircraft and pilots of the regiment became part of the 320th and then the 412th Aviation Base. They began to convert to the Su-30SM in 2013 as further reorganizations resulted in the renaming of the base as the 120th Separate Composite Aviation Regiment. Several Su-30SM of the regiment were committed to the Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war in 2015. Fully equipped with the Su-30SM, the regiment was renamed the 120th Separate Fighter Aviation Regiment in 2015 and received its current title in 2018. Its fighters have been deployed to participate in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.