Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 PFU: One Fancy Fresco... E

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 PFU: One Fancy Fresco…
[🇷🇺]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 PFU "Fresco E"

(Polls are at the bottom)


Overview

Back with another one! Following the theme of early-era missile carriers, we have the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 PFU, a modified MiG-17 with a afterburning engine, radar, and missiles!


Basic Information

Designation:

  • MiG-17 PFU (Military)

  • SP-6 (Manufacturer)

Name:

  • “MiG-17 PFU" (Official)

  • “Fresco E” (NATO Code)

Role:

  • Fighter

  • Interceptor

Crew:

  • 1

Manufacturer:

  • Mikoyan-Gurevich Aerospace Company

Total built:

  • 40 Aircraft

First Flight:

  • 1952

Specifications

Dimensions:

  • Length: 11.36 m (37.27 ft)

  • Wingspan: 9.63 m (31.59 ft)

  • Wing Area: 22.6 m² (243.26 ft²)

  • Height: 3.8 m (12.46 ft)

Flying Performance:

  • Engine(s):

    • 1x Klimov VK-1F afterburning turbojet

      • 2,600 kgf (25.49 kN, 5,732 lbf) standard thrust

      • 3,380 kgf (33.14 kN, 7,451.6 lbf) with afterburner

  • Max Speed:

    • 1,141 km/h (709 mph, 616 kts) at sea level
  • Service Ceiling:

    • 57,000 ft (17,000 m)
  • Rate of Climb:

    • 31.6 m/s (103.67 ft/s) at sea level
  • Max Range:

    • 1,295 km (804.67 mi, 699 nmi) Standard

    • 1,850 km (1,149.5 mi, 999 nmi) With External Fuel

  • Aircraft Weight:

    • 3,798 kg (8,373 lbs) Empty

    • 5,930 kg (13,073 lbs) Max

Armament:

  • Main Gun:

    • 1x 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 autocannon

      • 850 RPM

      • 80 Rounds

  • Hardpoints (Possible Loadouts):

    • 4x Kaliningrad K-5 (RS-1U) Beam-Riding Air-to-Air Guided Missiles

Additional Equipment:

  • Radar:

    • RP-1U “Izumrud” search & tracking radar

Usage In Battles

The MiG-17 PFU would be a fantastic start to AAM carriers in the soviet tech tree, as users would be familiar to the MiG-17, and its respective capabilities. While it would lack most of the powerful cannons the MiG-17 is known for, it more than would make up for it with its 4 missiles.

Pros:

  • Fantastic Maneuverability

  • Carries 4 AAMs

Cons:

  • Significantly smaller dogfighting capability

  • K-5 missiles are Beam-Riding, meaning they require a continous lock to be guided properly


History

The MiG-17 PFU was the product of the SP-15 program, a military venture to extend the service life and modernize the aging MiG-17 airframes of the Soviet Union and her Pact members. The PFUs were modified from MiG-17 PF airframes, and came in a variety of modifications, varying from the SP-9 variant which equipped four ARO-57-6 “Vichr” automatic-firing rocket launchers instead of its cannon armament, to the SP-16 which had a improved radar and RS-2U missiles.

The MiG-17 PFU (SP-6) was the first of these variants, being a Modified MiG-17 PF model with a reduced cannon armament to just one 23mm autocannon, but now was able to carry four of the Kaliningrad K-5, or RS-1U guided AAMs.

The first flight of the MiG-17 PFU took place in 1952, and with satisfactory results, was approved for production, however the order was canceled, having only 40 produced. The MiG-17 PFU saw no action and was soon retired shortly after her introduction, being replaced by more capable aircraft.


Additional Photos

Front view of MiG-17PFU. Radar & Cannon are visible


Technical Drawings & Data

Technical Drawing of a MiG-17PFU

Outline/Silhouette of MiG-17PFU


Sources

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 - Wikipedia

80337 1/48 MiG-17 PFU Fresco E

https://www.jetsofthecoldwar.co.uk/mikoyan-gurevich-mig-17-fresco/

[2.0] Mikoyan MiG-17

Wings of the Motherland - Nikolay Yakubovich


[Would you like to see this in-game?]
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters
4 Likes

I’d really like to see more of the early AAM carriers in game.

5 Likes

+1, more beam riding air to air missiles

3 Likes

Swift F7 equivalent missiles on Mig-17? Yes please.

2 Likes

The US has an equivalent of this on the Sabre don’t they? More early missiles and their carriers would be nice

1 Like

Definitely yes. I want to see more tier VI stuff for USSR.

1 Like

It can carry the missiles and the gun simultaneously? I’m asking because I know the MiG-19PM with the same missile armament has no guns. Interesting that the older, smaller MiG-17 airframe could mount both at once.

At any rate, I’d love to see more beam-riding AAMs no matter how much they suck.

MiG-17PFU SP-15 didnt have guns but SP-6 had one NR-23.

https://ruslet.webnode.cz/technika/ruska-technika/letecka-technika/a-i-mikojan-a-m-i-gurjevic/mig-17pfu/

2 Likes

Would love to see this in game, but as stated before some of the information here is not correct. Unfortunately the sources I have (1. MiG-17 Aerofax/Gordon, 2. There is only the MiG/Yakubovich, 3. MiG Aircraft/Belyakov, 4. MiG: Flight Through Time) all have some sort of conflicting evidence on the aircraft.

From what I understand, while SP-6 and SP-7 (MiG-17PF) both had 3 x 23mm guns due to the need for space (replacement of 37mm), the entire cannon armament was absent on the SP-15 (MiG-17PFU) from what I believe to be an attempt to alleviate the poor intercept performance of the missile fighters. (Source 4)

Source 1 states that the MiG-17PF (SP-6) originally was originally armed with 3 x 23mm but this was reduced to 1 on the starboard side in later production models. Once again, however, this one states that the MiG-17PFU (SP-15) had a complete lack of cannon armament.

Source 3 seems to be the one that started the whole idea of the SP-15 having a cannon armament due to what I believe is either poor wording or just straight misinformation. It states that the MiG-17PFU is the SP-6 rather than the SP-15 and also states that it retained a single 23mm gun. We know this to be wrong because all photos of the MiG-17PFU show the underside of the nose to be clean.

Source 2 states that the MiG-17PF (SP-7) was armed with either 2 or 3 x 23mm guns. It also (not directly) states that the SP-6 had a single 23mm gun that was later removed before production changed to the MiG-17PFU.

Some images to make up for the text




MiG-17PF a MiG-17PFU are different types. The MiG-17PF does not have K-5 missiles in its arsenal, so there is no point talking about them. MiG-17PFU are in two variants. First variant SP-6 (prototype version which was build in 5 pieces) with K-5 missiles, one NR-23 and with older VK-1 and then SP-15 with only K-5 without cannon armament and with better VK-1F.

MiG-17PF
https://ruslet.webnode.cz/technika/ruska-technika/letecka-technika/a-i-mikojan-a-m-i-gurjevic/mig-17pf-fresco-d-/

MiG-17PFU
https://ruslet.webnode.cz/technika/ruska-technika/letecka-technika/a-i-mikojan-a-m-i-gurjevic/mig-17pfu/

1 Like

I only bring up the MiG-17PF (original SP-6) because of the erroneously stated cannon armament. It’s clear the MiG-17PFU was armed with missiles due to the U in the designation. I want to note that even though the 5 prototypes did have the single cannon, the modified SP-6 aircraft didn’t enter production but SP-15 did as the MiG-17PFU.

Аll MiG-17 from version P to version PF had 3x 23mm cannon (100 rounds per cannon) not due to space reasons but weight reasons (according to Ruslet). 5 prototypes of MiG-17PFU SP-6 was build from MiG-17P which was armed with 3x 23mm. Two 23mm cannons was removed and was installed 4x K-5 missiles (together with new radar RP-1U Izumrud-2 instead of RP-1 Izumrud-1).