LaGG_3

You can't fool me, you're an 82-85 year old soviet shitbox

I think the fact that Israel used a flight of F-35s to hit the last combat operational MiG-25 on the ground in I think Syria or Libya in either this or last decade says it all. They were terrified of it. People think it's a shit box because of propaganda where it was compared to the F-15 in dogfights. It would be like comparing the STOL capabilities of the X-15 to the AN-2.

Meanwhile her successor, the MiG-31, is still racking up wins lobbing hypersonics and long range air to air missiles into Ukraine with impunity.

One of the few planes that truly scared the NATO fascists during Desert Storm, able to penetrate AWACS airspace and escape with nothing but its high speed.

I pretty much believe this is how all interceptor design should be. The concept of dogfighting is silly. The jets are mobile missile platforms to deliver a payload of missiles from airfield to target. The faster they get there and the faster they leave the less time there is for them to be shot. Manoevering is also entirely unnecessary if you can just outrun anything that wants to shoot at you.

Get to target, shoot at target before target shoots at you, leave.

It is terribly underrated. Also iirc there's credible rumors that the MiG-31 hasn't been limited to Kinzhals and has also fired long range air to air missiles into Ukraine to suppress the Ukrainian air force.