Aircraft in profile Hey Fresco

摘要

Often overlooked by the casual enthusiast because of an inevitable resemblance to its predecessor, the MiG-17 was however a major leap forward in Soviet fighter design, building on the proven success of the MiG-15, which in turn had benefitted from technology captured from Nazi Germany. With the Cold War escalating, ever more potent technology and higher performance was sought after on both sides of the political divide. Thus, despite design work having commenced as early-as 1949, as the MiG-15bis45, the MiG-17 was able to prove a threat to more modern US fighters in the Vietnam War, until the arrival of supersonic types such as the F-100 and its own replacement by the MiG-19 and MiG-21.