MiGs in the Middle East Volume 1

When Egypt and Czechoslovakia signed the so-called ‘Czechoslovak Arms Deal' in the mid-1950s, thy initiated a unique era of close cooperation between major Arab military powers, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and its allies. Within few years, the air forces of Egypt, followed by those of (in chronological order) Syria and Iraq, were all equipped with dozens and then hundreds of Soviet-made fi ghters designed by the Mikoyan i Gurevich Design Bureau – the same swept-wing jets that had taken the Western powers by surprise during the Korean War.

While the first generation of MiG jet fighters – the MiG-15 – saw only a relatively brief service in Egypt, its more efficient and uprated successor, the MiG-17F, entered service in bigger numbers, and then formed the backbone of all three air forces.