Ye-8
Role	Fighter aircraft Type of aircraft
National origin	Soviet Union
Design group	OKB-155
First flight	1962
Status	Prototypes
Number built	2
Developed from	Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21

The Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-8 was a supersonic jet fighter developed in the Soviet Union, intended to replace the MiG-21 (originally named MiG-23). Only two prototypes were built in 1960–61. The original MiG-21's air intakes were moved under the fuselage, freeing up the nose where a larger and more powerful radar, able to deliver longer range air-to-air missiles, could be built in. Canards were built to both sides of the nose, in front of the cockpit, (the horizontal stabilizers of MiG-21 were left at their original position).

The two prototypes flew in 1962. On 11 September 1962, the Tumansky R-21F-300 engine, also under development, exploded in midair at a speed of Mach 2.15.^[1] Test pilot Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov, then one of the leading Soviet test pilots, was severely injured by debris from the compressor and had to eject at Mach 1.78.

Due to unsolved technical problems, the aircraft's development was abandoned; some parts were used on the MiG-23, including R-23 missiles and their associated Sapfir-23 radar.

Data from MiG: Fifty Years of Secret Aircraft Design^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 14.9 m (48 ft 11 in)
• Wingspan: 7.15 m (23 ft 5 in)
• Wing area: 23.13 m² (249.0 sq ft)
• Gross weight: 6,800 kg (14,991 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 8,200 kg (18,078 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Tumansky R-21 turbojet, 46.05 kN (10,350 lbf) thrust dry, 70.55 kN (15,860 lbf) with afterburner

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,386 km/h (861 mph, 748 kn) at 12,000 m (39,000 ft)^[3]
• Maximum speed: Mach 2.15
• Service ceiling: 20,000 m (66,000 ft)

Armament

• Missiles: 2 × K-13 air-to-air missiles (planned)

Related development

• Chengdu J-7
• Mikoyan-Gurevich I-75
• Shenyang J-8
• Guizhou JL-9

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Convair F-106X
• Dassault Milan
• Dassault Mirage IIIF/F1
• Douglas F5D
• English Electric Lightning F3/F6
• Grumman F11F-1F
• McDonnell Douglas F-4C
• Northrop F-5
• Saab Draken J 35F
• Sukhoi P-1
• Sukhoi Su-11
• Sukhoi T-49
• Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS
• List of fighter aircraft

• Belyakov, R.A; Marmain, J. (1994). MiG: Fifty Years of Secret Aircraft Design. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-488-4.
• Gunston, Bill (1995). The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995. London: Osprey. ISBN 1-85532-405-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-8.

• Е-8 (in Russian). Ugolok neba aircraft encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
• Е-8 (МиГ-21М, МиГ-23) (in Russian). www.testpilot.ru/. Retrieved 2009-05-02.