In this post we're covering many sub-variants, prototypes and dedicated versions of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis (excluding the MiG-15UTI which will have its series of own posts.
The MiG-15Pbis was a variant with just six exemplars built that featured a Torij radar mounted in a radome placed in the nose. It was armed with just the 37mm N-37 cannon to fit the radar equipment, just six of them were built with the first one being completed and flown on 23rd April 1949. It was built by the Moscow Aircraft Factory Number 155, in Moscow from converting a regular MiG-15bis. The remaining 5 were built by Kuybyshev Aircraft Factory Number 1 "Stalin", located at the Russian city of Kuybyshev in 1951. All six of them were used to train pilots in the usage of aircraft-mounted aerial-radars.
The MiG-15Rbis was a reconnaissance variant of the regular MiG-15bis. Three-hundred and sixty-four of them were manufactured by the Gorky Aircraft Factory Number 21, at Gorky, in Russia from 1951 to 1952. To incorporate the reconnaissance gear which consisted on a single AFA-BA/40 daytime camera, one gun was removed so it was armed with just the N-37 cannon and a single N-23 23mm cannon. It had a range of 1045km (649,33 milles) without external fuel tanks and it's worth mentioning that it differed from the Czechoslovakian version as this one was based on the MiG-15bis and the Czechoslovakian version was based on the regular MiG-15. It served with the VVS (Soviet Air Force), the Bulgarian People's Air Force (which, as we couldn't find a pic, the drawing should be considered as speculative) and the Cuban Air Force (which we also couldn't find a pic, so the drawing should be considered as speculative) performing low-level recon missions.
The MiG-15Sbis was a variant with integrated fuel tanks added into the wings in order to achieve a greater range. It had a range of 1200km (745.64 milles), it was produced in 1951 by the Saratov Aircraft Factory Number 22 in Saratov, Russia, which produced all 45 of them. It was armed like a regular MiG-15bis and only saw brief service with the VVS.
The MiG-15bis(ISh) was a ground-support variant. Only 4 of them were manufactured plus other 12 which were converted from the MiG-15bis. All of them were produced or converted by the Research Institute of Air Force for Aircraft Operations and Repairs in 1958. As it was intended for ground-support duties, it had an additional underwing hardpoint to carry a wide arrangement of bombs and/or air-to-ground rockets, apart of the traditional N-37 and NR-23 guns.
The MiG-15bisR was a recon variant locally produced in Czechoslovakia at the town of Kbely by Letecké opravny Kbely n.p.. Seventy-six of them were converted from regular MiG-15bis (or its Czechoslovak licensed version built by Aero) during a production period starting in 1960 until 1963.
As in its Russian counterpart, in order to fit the photographical equipment, it was underarmed with just one NR-23 gun.
Lastly, we have the MiG-15bisSB which was a ground-attack version also built and converted by Letecké opravny Kbely n.p. from either regular MiG-15bis or MiG-15bisR aircraft. Production started as late as 1968 and lasted until 1978 having manufactured 72 machines plus an unknown number of conversions. It featured hardpoints to carry a set of ground-attack rockets (most notably the LR-130 and the LR-55 rocket launcher) and up to six OFAB-100 bombs.
Most of them served with the Czechoslovak Air Force during the 1960s and the 1970s and, apparently, some of them were exported to Iraq where they served in the Iraqi Air Force, however, as we couldn't find any photo or pic whatsoever of the MiG-15bisSB under Iraqi colours, the pic should be taken as speculative.
Sources.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196279
3. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196286
4. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/60332
5. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196285
6. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53557
7. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/60333
8. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196279
A blog dedicated to draw historical, ahistorical and fictional warplanes and other military vehicles in 1/34 scale. Disclaimer: We just draw for the fun of doing it. If you want you can display the drawings of this blog in your website or forum as long as you credit the source. To properly view the drawings, click on them.
Showing posts with label Iraq 1970-1979. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq 1970-1979. Show all posts
Thursday, 14 February 2019
Thursday, 6 December 2018
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis - Czechoslovak users
As Czechoslovakia became one of the USSR satellite countries, since the communist coup d'etat of 1948, their air force had been receiving Soviet made material since that year.
Therefore, during the years following the coup d'etat, both army and air force underwent several reforms and purges.
One of those, rather radical, reforms, fall back onto the air force as, in 1951 the 1st 2nd and 3rd Air Defence Districts of State territory were created, as well as the 15th Fighter Air Corps, which was equipped, almost entirely with either MiG-15, MiG-15bis or their Czechoslovak copies, Aero S-102 (which has already been covered in a previous post) and Aero S-103 (the Czechoslovak copy of the MiG-15bis) because, since 1948, they were replacing their fighters like the locally built Avia S.99 (a local copy of the Messerschmitt Bf.109G with a new engine), Supermarine Spitfires or De Havilland Mosquitoes.
The 15th Air Fighter Corps was comprised of 1st, 3rd, 5th and 166th Fighter Air Divisions. This last one, the 166th, became, in the late 1950s the 2nd Fighter Air Division.
The Aero S-103 was the license-built copy of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis. It was manufactured by Aero Vodochody n.p., at Odolena Voda, Czechoslovakia, where around 620 exemplars were manufactured.
Both the MiG-15, the MiG-15bis and their Czechoslovak copies equipped the Air Force of Czechoslovakia from the early 1950s until the mid-to-late 1950s when they were replaced with the more capable MiG-17. Some of them were exported to Arab countries like Egypt and Syria where they saw action in the Suez Crisis. Some outdated MiG-15bis were retained by training units and used as advanced trainers, which could be identified by the blue bands painted on the fuselage.
In 1968 around 75 old MiG-15bis were reconverted into ground-attack airplanes, equipping them with either bombs or air-to-ground missiles. Some of these are known to have been sold to Iraq, which incorporated them into their air force in the early 1970s, however they didn't seem to be very successful since the available data about them is rather scarce. They were named as MiG-15bisSB.
One dogfight between two Czechoslovak Aero-103s and two American F-84E Thunderjet took place on 10th March 1953 over the village of Merklín, in the Czechoslovak Bohemian region when the Czechoslovak Air Force detected two American F-84E Thunderjet fighters flying above Czechoslovak soil. The Czech pilot Jaroslav Srámek shot down one American Republic F-84E Thunderjet belonging to the 53rd Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 36th Fighter-Bomber wing and repelled the other. The American pilot, Lt. Warren G. Brown, managed to eject from the aircraft which crash-landed in West-German territory, approximately 35km (22mi) from the border, and survived.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovak_Air_Force
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53180
3. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196279
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15#Other_events
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_battle_over_Merklín
6. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
Therefore, during the years following the coup d'etat, both army and air force underwent several reforms and purges.
One of those, rather radical, reforms, fall back onto the air force as, in 1951 the 1st 2nd and 3rd Air Defence Districts of State territory were created, as well as the 15th Fighter Air Corps, which was equipped, almost entirely with either MiG-15, MiG-15bis or their Czechoslovak copies, Aero S-102 (which has already been covered in a previous post) and Aero S-103 (the Czechoslovak copy of the MiG-15bis) because, since 1948, they were replacing their fighters like the locally built Avia S.99 (a local copy of the Messerschmitt Bf.109G with a new engine), Supermarine Spitfires or De Havilland Mosquitoes.
The 15th Air Fighter Corps was comprised of 1st, 3rd, 5th and 166th Fighter Air Divisions. This last one, the 166th, became, in the late 1950s the 2nd Fighter Air Division.
The Aero S-103 was the license-built copy of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis. It was manufactured by Aero Vodochody n.p., at Odolena Voda, Czechoslovakia, where around 620 exemplars were manufactured.
Both the MiG-15, the MiG-15bis and their Czechoslovak copies equipped the Air Force of Czechoslovakia from the early 1950s until the mid-to-late 1950s when they were replaced with the more capable MiG-17. Some of them were exported to Arab countries like Egypt and Syria where they saw action in the Suez Crisis. Some outdated MiG-15bis were retained by training units and used as advanced trainers, which could be identified by the blue bands painted on the fuselage.
In 1968 around 75 old MiG-15bis were reconverted into ground-attack airplanes, equipping them with either bombs or air-to-ground missiles. Some of these are known to have been sold to Iraq, which incorporated them into their air force in the early 1970s, however they didn't seem to be very successful since the available data about them is rather scarce. They were named as MiG-15bisSB.
One dogfight between two Czechoslovak Aero-103s and two American F-84E Thunderjet took place on 10th March 1953 over the village of Merklín, in the Czechoslovak Bohemian region when the Czechoslovak Air Force detected two American F-84E Thunderjet fighters flying above Czechoslovak soil. The Czech pilot Jaroslav Srámek shot down one American Republic F-84E Thunderjet belonging to the 53rd Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 36th Fighter-Bomber wing and repelled the other. The American pilot, Lt. Warren G. Brown, managed to eject from the aircraft which crash-landed in West-German territory, approximately 35km (22mi) from the border, and survived.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovak_Air_Force
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53180
3. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196279
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15#Other_events
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_battle_over_Merklín
6. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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