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(Source:
http://www.overscan.co.uk/Avionics.html) |
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Sapfir-23 was designed by a team under Chief Designer Kunyavsky
for the MiG-23 fighter. A purely air-to-air design, it was the first radar for a frontal
fighter designed to allow BVR engagements. It used semiconductor technology rather than vacuum
tubes and a method of external coherence in the mode "SDTs" (moving target selection) to
detect aircraft flying below the host aircraft. This had limitations- it could only detect
targets in the duration between successive pulses, and had multiple "blind" velocities in
multiples of its PRF. It used an analogue AVM-23 computer, and a twist-cassegrain antenna.
Some sources indicate that early versions could only detect closing targets. The incorporation
of an IRST into the MiG-23 may therefore have been intended give a pursuit engagement capability.
Sapfir-23L was the radar of the initial production
MiG-23 (1970-71).
Sapfir-23D was the full standard radar and the first
with limited lookdown capability. Search range was 55km against a closing Tu-16 sized target,
45km against a MiG-21. Tracking range was about 35km. Fitted to production MiG-23M. Lots of
problems were encountered in service, as it required expert tuning and high quality maintenance.
It wasn't uncommon for the detection range to vary 10 times from one set to the next. Weight
about 500kg.
Sapfir-23D-Sh was improved with better discrimination
of low flying targets and improved ECCM. Fitted to later production MiG-23M, older MiG-23M
were upgraded to this standard.
Sapfir-23E was fitted to MiG-23MF export variants.
Based on Sapfir-23D with minor differences. |
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| Sapfir-23ML Radar |
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Sapfir-23ML was initially designed
by G. M. Kunyavsky in the early-to-mid seventies, completed by Yury Kirpichev and introduced in
1976 as a major update to the Sapfir-23, after early service experience showed various
deficiencies in the original radar. As part of a crash upgrade program, the radar was thoroughly
modernised, increasing ECM resistance. The Sapfir-23ML's weight (around 350kg) was less than
the original Sapfir-23, which helped improve the MiG-23's agility. Search range against a
fighter was 55km in look-up mode, 20km in look-down mode. Against a bomber sized target, the
detection range increased to 80km and 25km in look-up and look-down modes repectively.
Sapfir-23ML-2 was a variant designed for the MiG-29A, a cut-down MiG-29 intended to use existing technology to achieve IOC by 1979. Designed by Yuriy Figurovsky, it was a
repackaged and slightly improved version of the MiG-23's radar. Difficulties in fitting it
into the MiG-29 were overcome by enlarging the wing roots, but it was abandoned in 1976 along
with the MiG-29A. All Phazotron's efforts were redirected to the urgent task of developing the
Sapfir-25 radar.
MiG-23-98 FIGHTER TO FLY WITH NEW RADAR FROM PHAZOTRON-NIIR
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