The current MiG-23M and MiG-23MF are absolutely trash. First and foremost, their radars lack an ACM mode, and the activation conditions for MTI are overly stringent. Additionally, the R-23 missile suffers from extremely poor maneuverability, being only marginally superior to the AIM-7D. Furthermore, the MiG-23M and MF themselves exhibit sluggish handling: they have a slow roll rate, inferior acceleration compared to the MiG-21MF (let alone the MiG-21bis), and relatively poor turn performance.
Most critically, these aircraft are limited to just 12 large countermeasures, leaving virtually no room to carry chaff. Once uptiered, this severely compromises their survivability. It is well known that no aircraft equipped with supersonic all-aspect infrared missiles is rated below 11.0 BR; the R-60M has effectively elevated the MiG-23M to a battle rating it does not deserve.
A far more balanced approach would be to remove the R-60M and reposition the MiG-23M at 10.7 BR, where it could carry the R-60/R-13M1 alongside the R-23—a configuration that would better reflect its actual capabilities.
yes,but only if Gaijin implements buffs to the R-23 or adds the extra 60 countermeasures to this plane could the overall performance of the MiG-23M be meaningfully improved.they would require substantial empirical data to convince Gaijin to make adjustments,and it seems like to be not historical.
I know that , however it maybe hard for gaijin to put a supersonic plane with high-overload all-aspect IR missiles to 10.7,though R60Ms are actually trash.
Already does, i see no reason why a mig 23 should be bellow 11.0 with r60s let alone r60ms? If they think its somehow equivalent to jets such as the mirage 3e then they can carry on living in their dream land.
I think they’re somewhat fine at their current rating; would probably be too strong at 10.7 unless maybe r13m1 also removed? Wouldn’t mind trying it even if “ahistorical” by just removing a possible weapon which is a lot better than adding something fake. Do this to like only the hungary and german ones so we can have both variants with their seperate ratings in game.
I don’t know if that would be fair. Those would still be way better than the 10.7 mig-21 variants with the only downside being the limited number of countermeasures but that isn’t unique around that BR
u don’t even need to flare them, shoot one at rear aspect and see how the slowest aircraft at 10.0 can barrel roll it till it loses all it’s speed due to the exagerate drag the R-60s have.
Those rocket pods hinder the performance of those flareless planes quite significantly. It’s especially noticable on planes that already had marginal flight performance, like the T-2/F-1. That, combined with the fact that they cannot be fired above mach 1, means I’ve mostly stopped using them, instead relying on good positioning to stay away from high G missiles in high tier subsonics.
This would, of course, fall apart completely if I come up against a high performance interceptor that can just run me down from anywhere. It’s currently manageable for the last tier of flareless planes at 10.0, since planes like the MiG-21 Bis, Su-22 and MiG-23M(L) are at 11.0, meaning you don’t often see them (And when you do, there can only be 4 of them). But move one of those down to 10.7, and all of a sudden it’s a much larger issue.
I would have to carry rocket pods on all 10.0 flareless planes, which means gimping my missile load and my flight performance, while also ensuring that I can never fly above mach with a MiG-23 anywhere near me. Far better for the game for the MiG-23 to simply lose the R-60Ms if it were going to move down.
