Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3
Encyclopedia
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a Soviet
fighter aircraft
used during World War II
. It was a development of the MiG-1
by the OKO (opytno-konstrooktorskiy otdel — Experimental Design Department) of Zavod (Factory) No. 1 to remedy problems that had been found during the MiG-1's development and operations. It replaced the MiG-1 on the production line at Factory No. 1 on 20 December 1940 and was built in large numbers during 1941 before Factory No. 1 was converted to build the Ilyushin Il-2
.
On 22 June 1941 at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa
, some 981 were in service with the VVS, the PVO and Naval Aviation
. The MiG-3 was difficult to fly in peacetime and much more so in combat. It had been designed for high-altitude combat but combat over the Eastern Front
was generally at lower altitudes where it was inferior to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109
as well as most modern Soviet fighters. It was also pressed into service as a fighter-bomber during the autumn of 1941 but it was equally unsuited for this. Over time the survivors were concentrated in the PVO, where its disadvantages mattered less, the last being withdrawn from service before the end of the war.
to make a number of modifications to the design. Testing was done on a full-size aircraft in the T-1 wind tunnel belonging to the Central Aero and Hydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI) to evaluate the problems and their proposed solutions. The first aircraft to see all of these changes applied was the fourth prototype of the I-200. It first flew on 29 October 1940 and was approved for production after passing its State acceptance trials. The first MiG-3 as the improved aircraft was named on 9 December, was completed on 20 December 1940 and another 20 were delivered by the end of the year.
These changes included:
State acceptance testing of two production aircraft was conducted between 27 January and 26 February 1941. They were found to be over 250 kg (551.2 lb) heavier than the MiG-1, which reduced maneuverability and field performance. Time to 5000 m (16,404.2 ft) decreased by over a minute and the service ceiling proved to be 500 m (1,640.4 ft) less. The MiG-3 was faster at sea level and at height. While the ranges reached by both aircraft were farther than that of the older aircraft, they were still less than the 1000 km (621.4 mi) required. Mikoyan and Gurevich protested against the range results as their calculations showed that the MiG-3 could reach 1010 km (627.6 mi) based on a specific fuel consumption (SFC) of 0.46 kg/km (1.64 lb/mile). During the State acceptance trials the SFC was 0.48 kg/km (1.71 lb/mile) but the operational trials conducted earlier showed a SFC of 0.38 kg/km (1.35 lb/mile). They blamed the deficiency on a failure to use an altitude correction and that the engines had not been properly adjusted. They went as far as arranging for two more flights between Leningrad and Moscow to prove the MiG-3 could fly 1,000 km (621 mi). Two production aircraft were flown to ranges of 1100 km (683.5 mi) and 971 km (603.4 mi), flying at 90% of maximum speed and at an altitude of 7300 m (23,950.1 ft), contradicting the report of the NII VVS (Naoochno-Issledovatel'skiy Institoot Voyenno-Vozdooshnykh Seel—Air Force Scientific Test Institute).
Despite the teething problems with the MiG-3, in 1941, one of the aircraft's designers—Mikhail Gurevich
—was awarded the State Stalin Prize
for his contribution to Soviet aviation.
A number of reports had been received about poor quality aircraft received by the regiments which pointed directly at the NII VVS as it was responsible for monitoring the quality of the aircraft delivered to the VVS. On 31 May 1941 the People's Commissariat of Defense decreed that the NII VVS had been negligent. A number of senior managers were demoted and the head of the Institute, Major General A. I. Filin was summarily executed.
A number of MiG-3s were found to have unacceptable performance at high altitudes despite being designed as a high-altitude interceptor. The oxygen supply was often insufficient and the stall
and spin
characteristics were very dangerous, especially to inexperienced pilots. This was demonstrated on 10 April 1941 when three pilots of the 31st Fighter Regiment of the Air Defenses (IAP PVO) attempted to intercept a German reconnaissance aircraft over Kaunas
, Lithuania
flying at 9000 m (29,527.6 ft). All three aircraft entered irrecoverable spins and the pilots were forced to bail out, one being killed. The NII VVS sent an engineer to investigate and he found that the pilots had flown very few hours on the MiG-3 and that that was their first high-altitude sortie. Other problems included insufficient oil and fuel pressure at altitude due to problems with the pumps.
F-2 in service at the beginning of 1941 and the British Supermarine Spitfire
V's 603 km/h (375 mph). At lower altitudes the MiG's speed advantage disappeared as its maximum speed at sea level was only 505 km/h (314 mph) while the Bf 109F-2 could do 515 km/h (320 mph). Unfortunately for the MiG-3 and its pilots, aerial combat over the Eastern Front
generally took place at low and medium altitudes where it had no speed advantage.
The MiG's loaded weight of 3350 kg (7,385 lb) was greater than the Bf 109F-2's 2979 kg (6,568 lb) and it was less maneuverable in the horizontal plane than the Bf 109 due to its higher wing loading
. This lack of maneuverability was exacerbated by the MiG-3's poor climb performance, its instability at high speeds and its weak armament.
The MiG-3's standard armament was one 12.7 mm (0.5 in) UBS
machine gun and two 7.62 mm (0.3 in) ShKAS machine gun
s. This was a rather light armament by international standards, for example most versions of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109
that it encountered were equipped with one 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) autocannon
and two 7.92 mm (0.311811023622047 in) machine guns. To remedy this problem 821 aircraft were built with one 12.7 mm UBK machine gun in a pod under each wing in mid-1941. This lowered its speed by about 20 km/h (12.4 mph) at all altitudes, which was unpopular with the pilots, some of whom removed the pods. One hundred aircraft were equipped with a pair of UBS machine guns in lieu of the ShKAS weapons. Another 215 aircraft also had just the UBS machine guns but were fitted to carry six RS-82 rocket
s. A total of 72 aircraft mounted a pair of 20 mm ShVAK cannon
. A wide variety of armaments were experimented with by various units at the requests of their pilots or to make up shortages.
would begin construction of the MiG-3 and complete one hundred aircraft by the end of the year and Zavod Nr. 21 in Gor'kiy
would start to plan construction of an upgraded version of the MiG-3, although this last program was canceled shortly afterwards. 140 were delivered in January 1941 and Zavod Nr. 1 was on pace to exceed its quota with 496 delivered in July, 562 in August and 450 in September. In October the German advance on Moscow forced the factory, and its OKO, to evacuate to Kuybyshev
where production resumed under atrocious conditions. However, shortly afterwards, Stalin sent a telegram to the directors of the plants building the Ilyushin Il-2
and the MiG-3 demanding more Il-2 production. Thus the production of the MiG-3 was terminated in favor of the Il-2, except for thirty aircraft built in 1942 from spare parts. One additional reason for cancellation of the MiG-3 was that its Mikulin AM-35A engine was closely related to the AM-38
used by the Il-2 and production could be relatively easily be switched from one to the other.
However there is evidence that MiG-3 production at Zavod Nr. 1 was already planned to be reduced from a NKAP order of 27 August that required the factory to produce 420 fighters in September, declining to 100 in December with Il-2 production ramping up to 250 in December while the former aircraft repair plant at Khodynka Aerodrome was to be transferred to the NKAP, redesignated as Zavod Nr. 165, and begin production of MiG-3s. The German advance, however, disrupted these plans for Zavod 165 and it never produced a single MiG-3.
and I-153
biplanes and the Polikarpov I-16
monoplane. Even after the extensive modifications made to the MiG-3 in comparison to the MiG-1 it was still tricky and demanding to fly. Many fighter regiments were not diligent in training their pilots to handle the MiG as it flew very differently than the older fighters and the rapid pace of deliveries aggravated things so that many units had more MiGs than they had trained pilots to fly them by the time of Operation Barbarossa. On 1 June 1941, 1,029 MIG-3s were on strength, but there were only 494 trained pilots.
In contrast to the untrained pilots of the 31st Fighter Regiment those of the 4th Fighter Regiment were able to claim three German high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft shot down before war broke out in June 1941. However high-altitude combat of this sort was to prove to be uncommon on the Eastern Front
where most air-to-air engagements were at altitudes well below 5000 metres (16,404.2 ft). At these sorts of altitudes the MiG-3 was outclassed by the Bf 109 in all respects, but also by other modern Soviet fighters like the Yakovlev Yak-1
. Furthermore the shortage of ground-attack aircraft in 1941 forced it into that role as well, for which it was totally unsuited.
Pilot Alexander E. Shvarev recalled: "The Mig was perfect at altitudes of 4,000 m and above. But at lower altitudes it was, as they say, 'a cow'. That was the first weakness. The second was its armament: weapons failure dogged this aircraft. The third weakness was its gunsights, which were inaccurate: that's why we closed in as much as we could and fired point blank."
On 22 June 1941, most MiG-3s and MiG-1s were in the border military districts of the Soviet Union. The Leningrad Military District
had 164, 135 were in the Baltic Military District
, 233 in the Western Special Military District
, 190 in the Kiev Military District
and 195 in the Odessa Military District
for a total of 917 on hand, of which only 81 were non-operational. An additional 64 MiGs were assigned to Naval Aviation, 38 in the Air Force of the Baltic Fleet
and 26 in the Air Force of the Black Sea Fleet
.
The 4th and 55th Fighter Regiments had most of the MiG-3s assigned to the Odessa Military District and their experiences on the first day of the war may be taken as typical. The 4th, an experienced unit, shot down a Romania
n Bristol Blenheim
reconnaissance bomber, confirmed by post-war research, and lost one aircraft which crashed into an obstacle on take-off. The 55th was much less experienced with the MiG-3 and claimed three aircraft shot down, although recent research confirms only one German Henschel Hs 126
was 40% damaged, and suffered three pilots killed and nine aircraft lost. The most unusual case was the pair of MiG-3s dispatched from the 55th on a reconnaissance mission to Ploieşti
that failed to properly calculate their fuel consumption and both were forced to land when they ran out of fuel.
Most of the MiG-3s assigned to the interior military districts were transferred to the PVO where their lack of performance at low altitudes was not so important. On 10 July 299 were assigned to the PVO, the bulk of them belonging to the 6th PVO Corps at Moscow
, while only 293 remained with the VVS, and 60 with the Naval Air Forces, a total of only 652 despite deliveries of several hundred aircraft. By 1 October, on the eve of the German offensive towards Moscow codenamed Operation Typhoon
, only 257 were assigned to VVS units, 209 to the PVO, and 46 to the Navy, a total of only 512, a decrease of 140 fighters since 10 July, despite deliveries of over a thousand aircraft in the intervening period. By 5 December, the start of the Soviet counter-offensive that drove the Germans back from the gates of Moscow, the Navy had 33 MiGs on hand, the VVS 210, and the PVO 309. This was a total of 552, an increase of only 40 aircraft from 1 October.
Over the winter of 1941–42 the Soviets transferred all of the remaining MiG-3s to the Navy and PVO so that on 1 May 1942 none were left on strength with the VVS. By 1 May 1942, Naval Aviation had 37 MiGs on strength, while the PVO had 323 on hand on 10 May. By 1 June 1944, the Navy had transferred all its aircraft to the PVO, which reported only 17 on its own strength, and all of those were gone by 1 January 1945. Undoubtedly more remained in training units and the like, but none were assigned to combat units by then.
Even with the MiG-3's limitations, Aleksandr Pokryshkin
, the third-leading Soviet, and Allied, ace of the war, with 53 official air victories (plus six shared), recorded a number of those victories while flying a MiG-3 at the beginning of the war. He later recalled:
To improve the low-level performance of the MiG-3, one aircraft was tested with the AM-38 engine used by the Il-2 in July 1941. It proved to be 14 km/h (8.7 mph) faster than the normal MiG-3 at sea level and was more maneuverable as well. It was recommended for production after passing its State acceptance trials in September, provided that a cure for the engine's tendency to overheat in ambient temperatures above 16 °C (60.8 °F) was found. However the sole prototype was shot down on 5 October during flight tests and it was decided not to proceed with the idea as all AM-38 production was allocated to the Il-2. Ironically, later in the war, about 80 MiG-3s were reengined with AM-38s to make them airworthy again. Many of these were rearmed with two 20 mm ShVAK cannon as well.
On 13 May 1941 the NKAP ordered the OKO to convert a MiG-3 to use the Shvetsov ASh-82
A radial engine
then entering production. The resulting aircraft had a variety of names, including I-210, MiG-3-82, Samolyot IKh or Izdeliye 65. The design was a failure, but was promising enough to continue the program as the I-211
.
A variety of other tests and other projects were conducted using MiG-3s. Leading edge slats
were evaluated in 1941 although they were not fitted on production aircraft, but were used by the I-210. A 6-bladed propeller was fitted on one aircraft to increase thrust at high-altitude to enable the fighter to catch the high-flying Junkers Ju 86
P aircraft then overflying Moscow. A new propeller hub was made that mounted six standard VISh-61 blades, but nothing more is known of the project. Four aircraft were converted to carry AFA-I cameras for evaluation and a fifth was then converted to evaluate all the improvements learned from the first four. It was approved for use after trials at the NII VVS. To improve their service ceiling
two aircraft were lightened down to a weight of 3098 kg (6,829.9 lb), but no further details are known other than one reached a height of 11750 metres (38,549.9 ft).
There was also a proposal in 1941 to use the MiG-3 as part of a Zveno
combination with a Petlyakov Pe-8
mother ship. The four-engined bomber would carry two MiG-3SPB (Skorostnoy Pikeeruyushchiy Bombardirovshchik—Fast Dive Bomber) fighters, modified to carry a 250 kg (551.2 lb) FAB-250 bomb under each wing, close to the target and would then release them to conduct the attack after which they would fly back to the nearest friendly airbase. Some preliminary work was done before the Germans invaded, but it was abandoned afterwards due to the pressure of other work. The combination was estimated to have a maximum speed of 260 km/h (161.6 mph) and a range of 1450 km (901 mi).
The Russian company Aviarestoration has rebuilt three MiG-3s. They fly with Allison engines. One is in the US and the third, rebuilt from one shot down in 1942, first flew again around the start of 2010. It will remain in Russia.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
used during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was a development of the MiG-1
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II that was designed to meet a requirement for a high-altitude fighter issued in 1939. To minimize demand on strategic materials such as aluminum, the aircraft was mostly constructed from steel tubing and wood...
by the OKO (opytno-konstrooktorskiy otdel — Experimental Design Department) of Zavod (Factory) No. 1 to remedy problems that had been found during the MiG-1's development and operations. It replaced the MiG-1 on the production line at Factory No. 1 on 20 December 1940 and was built in large numbers during 1941 before Factory No. 1 was converted to build the Ilyushin Il-2
Ilyushin Il-2
The Ilyushin Il-2 was a ground-attack aircraft in the Second World War, produced by the Soviet Union in very large numbers...
.
On 22 June 1941 at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, some 981 were in service with the VVS, the PVO and Naval Aviation
Soviet Naval Aviation
Soviet Naval Aviation was a part of the Soviet Navy.- Origins :...
. The MiG-3 was difficult to fly in peacetime and much more so in combat. It had been designed for high-altitude combat but combat over the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
was generally at lower altitudes where it was inferior to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
as well as most modern Soviet fighters. It was also pressed into service as a fighter-bomber during the autumn of 1941 but it was equally unsuited for this. Over time the survivors were concentrated in the PVO, where its disadvantages mattered less, the last being withdrawn from service before the end of the war.
Development
The large number of defects noted during flight testing of the MiG-1 forced Mikoyan and GurevichMikhail Gurevich
Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich was a Soviet aircraft designer, a partner of the famous MiG military aviation bureau. He was of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage....
to make a number of modifications to the design. Testing was done on a full-size aircraft in the T-1 wind tunnel belonging to the Central Aero and Hydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI) to evaluate the problems and their proposed solutions. The first aircraft to see all of these changes applied was the fourth prototype of the I-200. It first flew on 29 October 1940 and was approved for production after passing its State acceptance trials. The first MiG-3 as the improved aircraft was named on 9 December, was completed on 20 December 1940 and another 20 were delivered by the end of the year.
These changes included:
- The engine was moved forward 100 mm (4 in) to improve longitudinal stability.
- A new water radiator (OP-310) was fitted
- The first two modifications which allowed an additional 250 litres (66 US gal) fuel tank to be fitted underneath the pilot's seat.
- The outer wingpanel dihedral was increased by one degree to increase longitudinal stability.
- An additional oil tank was mounted under the engine.
- Piping was fitted to use cooled inert exhaust gasses in the fuel tanks to reduce the chance of fire.
- The back of the pilot's seat was armored with a 8 mm (0.31496062992126 in) plate (increased to 9 mm (0.354330708661417 in) in later models).
- The supercharger intakes were streamlined.
- The main landing gear was strengthened and the size of the main wheels was increased to 650 x 200 mm (25.5 x 7.87 in).
- The canopy glazing was extended aft to improve the view to the rear which allowed for the installation of a shelf behind the pilot for an RSI-1 radio (later upgraded to an RSI-4).
- The instrument panel layout was improved and a PBP-1A gunsight replaced the original PBP-1.
- Ammunition for the ShKAS guns was increased to 750 rounds per gun.
- Two additional underwing hardpoints were added to carry up to 220 kg (485 lb) of bombs, spray containers or RS-82 rocketRS-82 rocketRS-82 and RS-132 were unguided rockets used by Soviet military aircraft in World War II.-Development:...
s.
State acceptance testing of two production aircraft was conducted between 27 January and 26 February 1941. They were found to be over 250 kg (551.2 lb) heavier than the MiG-1, which reduced maneuverability and field performance. Time to 5000 m (16,404.2 ft) decreased by over a minute and the service ceiling proved to be 500 m (1,640.4 ft) less. The MiG-3 was faster at sea level and at height. While the ranges reached by both aircraft were farther than that of the older aircraft, they were still less than the 1000 km (621.4 mi) required. Mikoyan and Gurevich protested against the range results as their calculations showed that the MiG-3 could reach 1010 km (627.6 mi) based on a specific fuel consumption (SFC) of 0.46 kg/km (1.64 lb/mile). During the State acceptance trials the SFC was 0.48 kg/km (1.71 lb/mile) but the operational trials conducted earlier showed a SFC of 0.38 kg/km (1.35 lb/mile). They blamed the deficiency on a failure to use an altitude correction and that the engines had not been properly adjusted. They went as far as arranging for two more flights between Leningrad and Moscow to prove the MiG-3 could fly 1,000 km (621 mi). Two production aircraft were flown to ranges of 1100 km (683.5 mi) and 971 km (603.4 mi), flying at 90% of maximum speed and at an altitude of 7300 m (23,950.1 ft), contradicting the report of the NII VVS (Naoochno-Issledovatel'skiy Institoot Voyenno-Vozdooshnykh Seel—Air Force Scientific Test Institute).
Despite the teething problems with the MiG-3, in 1941, one of the aircraft's designers—Mikhail Gurevich
Mikhail Gurevich
Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich was a Soviet aircraft designer, a partner of the famous MiG military aviation bureau. He was of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage....
—was awarded the State Stalin Prize
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
for his contribution to Soviet aviation.
A number of reports had been received about poor quality aircraft received by the regiments which pointed directly at the NII VVS as it was responsible for monitoring the quality of the aircraft delivered to the VVS. On 31 May 1941 the People's Commissariat of Defense decreed that the NII VVS had been negligent. A number of senior managers were demoted and the head of the Institute, Major General A. I. Filin was summarily executed.
A number of MiG-3s were found to have unacceptable performance at high altitudes despite being designed as a high-altitude interceptor. The oxygen supply was often insufficient and the stall
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
and spin
Spin (flight)
In aviation, a spin is an aggravated stall resulting in autorotation about the spin axis wherein the aircraft follows a corkscrew downward path. Spins can be entered intentionally or unintentionally, from any flight attitude and from practically any airspeed—all that is required is sufficient yaw...
characteristics were very dangerous, especially to inexperienced pilots. This was demonstrated on 10 April 1941 when three pilots of the 31st Fighter Regiment of the Air Defenses (IAP PVO) attempted to intercept a German reconnaissance aircraft over Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
flying at 9000 m (29,527.6 ft). All three aircraft entered irrecoverable spins and the pilots were forced to bail out, one being killed. The NII VVS sent an engineer to investigate and he found that the pilots had flown very few hours on the MiG-3 and that that was their first high-altitude sortie. Other problems included insufficient oil and fuel pressure at altitude due to problems with the pumps.
Comparison to other fighters
The MiG-3's top speed of 640 km/h (398 mph) at 7200 metres (23,622 ft) was faster than the 615 km/h (382 mph) of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
F-2 in service at the beginning of 1941 and the British Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire (early Merlin powered variants)
The British Supermarine Spitfire was the only fighter aircraft of the Second World War to fight in front line service, from the beginnings of the conflict, in September 1939, through to the end in August 1945. Post-war the Spitfire's service career continued into the 1950s...
V's 603 km/h (375 mph). At lower altitudes the MiG's speed advantage disappeared as its maximum speed at sea level was only 505 km/h (314 mph) while the Bf 109F-2 could do 515 km/h (320 mph). Unfortunately for the MiG-3 and its pilots, aerial combat over the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
generally took place at low and medium altitudes where it had no speed advantage.
The MiG's loaded weight of 3350 kg (7,385 lb) was greater than the Bf 109F-2's 2979 kg (6,568 lb) and it was less maneuverable in the horizontal plane than the Bf 109 due to its higher wing loading
Wing loading
In aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing. The faster an aircraft flies, the more lift is produced by each unit area of wing, so a smaller wing can carry the same weight in level flight, operating at a higher wing loading. Correspondingly,...
. This lack of maneuverability was exacerbated by the MiG-3's poor climb performance, its instability at high speeds and its weak armament.
The MiG-3's standard armament was one 12.7 mm (0.5 in) UBS
Berezin UB
Berezin UB was a 12.7 mm caliber Soviet aircraft machine gun widely used during World War II.-Development:...
machine gun and two 7.62 mm (0.3 in) ShKAS machine gun
ShKAS machine gun
The ShKAS is a 7.62 mm machine gun widely used by Soviet aircraft in the 1930s and during World War II...
s. This was a rather light armament by international standards, for example most versions of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
that it encountered were equipped with one 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) autocannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
and two 7.92 mm (0.311811023622047 in) machine guns. To remedy this problem 821 aircraft were built with one 12.7 mm UBK machine gun in a pod under each wing in mid-1941. This lowered its speed by about 20 km/h (12.4 mph) at all altitudes, which was unpopular with the pilots, some of whom removed the pods. One hundred aircraft were equipped with a pair of UBS machine guns in lieu of the ShKAS weapons. Another 215 aircraft also had just the UBS machine guns but were fitted to carry six RS-82 rocket
RS-82 rocket
RS-82 and RS-132 were unguided rockets used by Soviet military aircraft in World War II.-Development:...
s. A total of 72 aircraft mounted a pair of 20 mm ShVAK cannon
ShVAK cannon
The ShVAK was a 20 mm autocannon used by the Soviet Union during World War II. It was designed by Boris Shpitalniy and Semyon Vladimirov and entered production in 1936...
. A wide variety of armaments were experimented with by various units at the requests of their pilots or to make up shortages.
Production
The NKAP (Narodnyy komissariat aviatsionnoy promyshlennosti—People's Ministry of the Aircraft Industry) announced its 1941 production plan on 9 December 1940. Zavod Nr. 1 would be required to build a total of 3,500 in 1941. Zavod Nr. 43 in KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
would begin construction of the MiG-3 and complete one hundred aircraft by the end of the year and Zavod Nr. 21 in Gor'kiy
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
would start to plan construction of an upgraded version of the MiG-3, although this last program was canceled shortly afterwards. 140 were delivered in January 1941 and Zavod Nr. 1 was on pace to exceed its quota with 496 delivered in July, 562 in August and 450 in September. In October the German advance on Moscow forced the factory, and its OKO, to evacuate to Kuybyshev
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
where production resumed under atrocious conditions. However, shortly afterwards, Stalin sent a telegram to the directors of the plants building the Ilyushin Il-2
Ilyushin Il-2
The Ilyushin Il-2 was a ground-attack aircraft in the Second World War, produced by the Soviet Union in very large numbers...
and the MiG-3 demanding more Il-2 production. Thus the production of the MiG-3 was terminated in favor of the Il-2, except for thirty aircraft built in 1942 from spare parts. One additional reason for cancellation of the MiG-3 was that its Mikulin AM-35A engine was closely related to the AM-38
Mikulin AM-38
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...
used by the Il-2 and production could be relatively easily be switched from one to the other.
However there is evidence that MiG-3 production at Zavod Nr. 1 was already planned to be reduced from a NKAP order of 27 August that required the factory to produce 420 fighters in September, declining to 100 in December with Il-2 production ramping up to 250 in December while the former aircraft repair plant at Khodynka Aerodrome was to be transferred to the NKAP, redesignated as Zavod Nr. 165, and begin production of MiG-3s. The German advance, however, disrupted these plans for Zavod 165 and it never produced a single MiG-3.
Operational history
MiG-3s were delivered to front-line fighter regiments beginning in the spring of 1941 and proved to be a handful for pilots accustomed to the lower-performance and docile Polikarpov I-152Polikarpov I-15
The Polikarpov I-15 was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed Chaika because of its gulled upper wings, it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet Air Force, and together with the Polikarpov I-16 monoplane, was one of the standard fighters of the Spanish Republicans during...
and I-153
Polikarpov I-153
The Russian Polikarpov I-153 Chaika was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. Developed as an advanced version of the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mongolia and was one of the Soviet's major fighter types in the early years of the Second...
biplanes and the Polikarpov I-16
Polikarpov I-16
The Polikarpov I-16 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first cantilever-winged monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear. The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of World War II...
monoplane. Even after the extensive modifications made to the MiG-3 in comparison to the MiG-1 it was still tricky and demanding to fly. Many fighter regiments were not diligent in training their pilots to handle the MiG as it flew very differently than the older fighters and the rapid pace of deliveries aggravated things so that many units had more MiGs than they had trained pilots to fly them by the time of Operation Barbarossa. On 1 June 1941, 1,029 MIG-3s were on strength, but there were only 494 trained pilots.
In contrast to the untrained pilots of the 31st Fighter Regiment those of the 4th Fighter Regiment were able to claim three German high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft shot down before war broke out in June 1941. However high-altitude combat of this sort was to prove to be uncommon on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
where most air-to-air engagements were at altitudes well below 5000 metres (16,404.2 ft). At these sorts of altitudes the MiG-3 was outclassed by the Bf 109 in all respects, but also by other modern Soviet fighters like the Yakovlev Yak-1
Yakovlev Yak-1
The Yakovlev Yak-1 was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft. Produced from early 1940, it was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings....
. Furthermore the shortage of ground-attack aircraft in 1941 forced it into that role as well, for which it was totally unsuited.
Pilot Alexander E. Shvarev recalled: "The Mig was perfect at altitudes of 4,000 m and above. But at lower altitudes it was, as they say, 'a cow'. That was the first weakness. The second was its armament: weapons failure dogged this aircraft. The third weakness was its gunsights, which were inaccurate: that's why we closed in as much as we could and fired point blank."
On 22 June 1941, most MiG-3s and MiG-1s were in the border military districts of the Soviet Union. The Leningrad Military District
Leningrad Military District
The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District.-History:...
had 164, 135 were in the Baltic Military District
Baltic Military District
The Baltic Military District was a military district of the Soviet armed forces, formed briefly before the German invasion, and then reformed after World War II and disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991....
, 233 in the Western Special Military District
Belorussian Military District
The Byelorussian Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally in the times of Russian Civil War it formed as the Western Front, and in April 1924 it was renamed to the Western Military District. In October 1926 it was redesignated the Belorussian Military...
, 190 in the Kiev Military District
Kiev Military District
The Kiev Military District was a Russian unit of military-administrative division of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Ukrainian Army, RKKA, and Soviet Armed Forces...
and 195 in the Odessa Military District
Odessa Military District
The Odessa Military District was a military administrative division of the Imperial Russian military, the Soviet Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces and was known under such name from around 1862 to 1998. It was reorganized as part of the Military of Ukraine and the Military of Moldova in...
for a total of 917 on hand, of which only 81 were non-operational. An additional 64 MiGs were assigned to Naval Aviation, 38 in the Air Force of the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
and 26 in the Air Force of the Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
.
The 4th and 55th Fighter Regiments had most of the MiG-3s assigned to the Odessa Military District and their experiences on the first day of the war may be taken as typical. The 4th, an experienced unit, shot down a Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
reconnaissance bomber, confirmed by post-war research, and lost one aircraft which crashed into an obstacle on take-off. The 55th was much less experienced with the MiG-3 and claimed three aircraft shot down, although recent research confirms only one German Henschel Hs 126
Henschel Hs 126
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970 . ISBN 0-356-02382-6....
was 40% damaged, and suffered three pilots killed and nine aircraft lost. The most unusual case was the pair of MiG-3s dispatched from the 55th on a reconnaissance mission to Ploieşti
Ploiesti
Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....
that failed to properly calculate their fuel consumption and both were forced to land when they ran out of fuel.
Most of the MiG-3s assigned to the interior military districts were transferred to the PVO where their lack of performance at low altitudes was not so important. On 10 July 299 were assigned to the PVO, the bulk of them belonging to the 6th PVO Corps at Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, while only 293 remained with the VVS, and 60 with the Naval Air Forces, a total of only 652 despite deliveries of several hundred aircraft. By 1 October, on the eve of the German offensive towards Moscow codenamed Operation Typhoon
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
, only 257 were assigned to VVS units, 209 to the PVO, and 46 to the Navy, a total of only 512, a decrease of 140 fighters since 10 July, despite deliveries of over a thousand aircraft in the intervening period. By 5 December, the start of the Soviet counter-offensive that drove the Germans back from the gates of Moscow, the Navy had 33 MiGs on hand, the VVS 210, and the PVO 309. This was a total of 552, an increase of only 40 aircraft from 1 October.
Over the winter of 1941–42 the Soviets transferred all of the remaining MiG-3s to the Navy and PVO so that on 1 May 1942 none were left on strength with the VVS. By 1 May 1942, Naval Aviation had 37 MiGs on strength, while the PVO had 323 on hand on 10 May. By 1 June 1944, the Navy had transferred all its aircraft to the PVO, which reported only 17 on its own strength, and all of those were gone by 1 January 1945. Undoubtedly more remained in training units and the like, but none were assigned to combat units by then.
Even with the MiG-3's limitations, Aleksandr Pokryshkin
Aleksandr Ivanovich Pokryshkin
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin was a Marshal of the Soviet Air Force. He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on three separate occasions ....
, the third-leading Soviet, and Allied, ace of the war, with 53 official air victories (plus six shared), recorded a number of those victories while flying a MiG-3 at the beginning of the war. He later recalled:
“It's designers rarely succeeded in matching both the fighter's flight characteristics with its firepower… the operational advantage of the MiG-3 seemed to be obscured by its certain defects. However, these advantages could undoubtedly be exploited by a pilot able to discover them”.
Variants
There were several attempts to re-engine the aircraft with the engine it was originally designed for, the Mikulin AM-37. This was designated the MiG-7, and one MiG-3 was converted to evaluate the engine in May 1941. It proved to have poor longitudinal stability and the powerplant itself still had a number of problems. The German invasion the following month caused the cancellation of the development of the AM-37 as Mikulin's resources were required for the AM-35 and AM-38 engines already in production.To improve the low-level performance of the MiG-3, one aircraft was tested with the AM-38 engine used by the Il-2 in July 1941. It proved to be 14 km/h (8.7 mph) faster than the normal MiG-3 at sea level and was more maneuverable as well. It was recommended for production after passing its State acceptance trials in September, provided that a cure for the engine's tendency to overheat in ambient temperatures above 16 °C (60.8 °F) was found. However the sole prototype was shot down on 5 October during flight tests and it was decided not to proceed with the idea as all AM-38 production was allocated to the Il-2. Ironically, later in the war, about 80 MiG-3s were reengined with AM-38s to make them airworthy again. Many of these were rearmed with two 20 mm ShVAK cannon as well.
On 13 May 1941 the NKAP ordered the OKO to convert a MiG-3 to use the Shvetsov ASh-82
Shvetsov ASh-82
The Shvetsov ASh-82 is a 14-cylinder, two-row, air-cooled radial aircraft engine developed from the Shvetsov M-62, itself a development from M-25 a licensed version of the Wright R-1820 Cyclone.-Design and development:...
A radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
then entering production. The resulting aircraft had a variety of names, including I-210, MiG-3-82, Samolyot IKh or Izdeliye 65. The design was a failure, but was promising enough to continue the program as the I-211
Mikoyan-Gurevich I-211
-Bibliography:* Gordon, Yefim. Soviet Airpower in World War 2. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing, 2008 ISBN 978-1-85780-304-4-Further reading:...
.
A variety of other tests and other projects were conducted using MiG-3s. Leading edge slats
Leading edge slats
Slats are aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of the wings of fixed-wing aircraft which, when deployed, allow the wing to operate at a higher angle of attack. A higher coefficient of lift is produced as a result of angle of attack and speed, so by deploying slats an aircraft can fly at slower...
were evaluated in 1941 although they were not fitted on production aircraft, but were used by the I-210. A 6-bladed propeller was fitted on one aircraft to increase thrust at high-altitude to enable the fighter to catch the high-flying Junkers Ju 86
Junkers Ju 86
The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry 10 passengers. Two were delivered to Swissair and five to Luft Hansa...
P aircraft then overflying Moscow. A new propeller hub was made that mounted six standard VISh-61 blades, but nothing more is known of the project. Four aircraft were converted to carry AFA-I cameras for evaluation and a fifth was then converted to evaluate all the improvements learned from the first four. It was approved for use after trials at the NII VVS. To improve their service ceiling
Ceiling (aeronautics)
With respect to aircraft, a ceiling is the maximum density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions.The word ceiling can also refer to the height of the lowest obscuring cloud layer above the ground.-Service ceiling:...
two aircraft were lightened down to a weight of 3098 kg (6,829.9 lb), but no further details are known other than one reached a height of 11750 metres (38,549.9 ft).
There was also a proposal in 1941 to use the MiG-3 as part of a Zveno
Zveno project
Zveno was a parasite aircraft concept developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. It consisted of a Tupolev TB-1 or a Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber acting as a mothership for between two and five fighters...
combination with a Petlyakov Pe-8
Petlyakov Pe-8
The Petlyakov Pe-8 was a Soviet heavy bomber designed before World War II, and the only four-engine bomber the USSR built during the war. Produced in limited numbers, it was used to bomb Berlin in August 1941. It was also used for so-called "morale raids" designed to raise the spirit of the Soviet...
mother ship. The four-engined bomber would carry two MiG-3SPB (Skorostnoy Pikeeruyushchiy Bombardirovshchik—Fast Dive Bomber) fighters, modified to carry a 250 kg (551.2 lb) FAB-250 bomb under each wing, close to the target and would then release them to conduct the attack after which they would fly back to the nearest friendly airbase. Some preliminary work was done before the Germans invaded, but it was abandoned afterwards due to the pressure of other work. The combination was estimated to have a maximum speed of 260 km/h (161.6 mph) and a range of 1450 km (901 mi).
Survivors
Operators
- VVS
- PVO
- Naval AviationSoviet Naval AviationSoviet Naval Aviation was a part of the Soviet Navy.- Origins :...
Specifications (Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3)
See also
Further reading
- Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Three: Fighters. London: Macdonald & Co., 1961 ISBN 0-356-01447-9
- Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: Soviet Air Force Fighters, Part 1. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers, 1977 ISBN 0-354-01026-3
- Stapfer, Hans-Heiri. Early MiG Fighters in Action (Aircraft number 204). Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 2006 ISBN 0-89747-507-0.
- Tessitori, Massimo. Mikoyan Gurevich Mig-1/Mig-3. Sandomierz, Poland/Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2006. ISBN 978-83-89450-26-5.