Mig-23MLD In War Thunder : A Basic Review

Taking a look at the Mig-23MLD in War Thunder. This was the dedicated dogfight version of the Mig-23 and represents a significant upgrade in flight performance over the Mig-23M.

For more detailed information about the history of the Mig-23 in general, check out my review of the Mig-23M :

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I'm all over the place!

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[Hurin]

i miss the r60m's, but side climbing up to 7km and diving on them with the r24t is so much fun lol. same strategy i use don the mig23m. The IRST is my favorite feature of these planes

[dogeness]

You can manually set the wing sweep to 0% before you takeoff. Then, anytime you toggle manual control you will automatically get the best dogfighting configuration. There's really no hassle.

[K_GHOST]

Worth noting that not many people recognize that the MiG-23M could always dogfight. It can out-rate just about any aircraft in the game outside of the J-7E. It just won't be pulling one circle fights with an F-5 or a Draken.

[Boris_The_Turtle]

Im so tired of grinding. There is simply no way I can get to play these cool vehicles.

[sicksixgamer]

You do the best plane reviews hands down. All useful info, no fluff, and you have to be the only person that covers landing performance that I have seen.

[pompiliosouto]

That missile at 1:55 was just like "I must go, my people need

[timmyhers]

I believe that the MLD variant of the MiG-23 can also be equipped with the R-27 missile (which had both semi-active radar homing and all-aspect infrared homing variants) which have better overall performance than the older R-23 and R-24 missiles which it replaced. I also believe that the Soviet Air Force did try to have the MLD to be capable to use helmet mounted display technology to help pilots of the MLD to have an edge in dogfighting, which is known as the MLGD variant, but it was later canceled and instead use the technology for the new fighter that will replace the MiG-23 Flogger and that would be the MiG-29 Fulcrum. There is even a "modern" variant proposed for the MiG-23, known as the MiG-23-98, which has improved avionics, new radar, better cockpit ergonomics, helmet mounted display, improve counter-measures and defensive suite, and able to equip modern air-to-air missiles like the R-73 Archer heat-seeking dogfighting missile and the R-77 advance active radar guided medium range air-to-air missile.

[JamieDownes]

It's so exciting to see you gaining all these subs Tim!

[lostcosmonaut]

I finally have a reason to play this game again 😁

[rags]

October 2021 - MiG-23MLD - "As of today, this is the new top dog in the game"

June 2022 - F-14A - "Well hello there !"

[TheDAWinz]

Great review, I've been loving the MLD!

[steve-wujp]

Great review. Now waiting for the mig 21 sps review 🙋😀

[kylebrady]

Well according to Wikipedia the MLD was such a boost in combat performance that it could beat MiG-29's in simulated dogfights (though HOW I don't know.) Also the fixed sweep positions might not be true for the ML series of Floggers? There's a video of a guy explaining a flightworthy ML/MLA and he mentioned the wing could be swept to any position. Maybe flight manuals just emphasized set positions and those were interpreted as a mechanical feature.

Regardless the ML's are absolutely better than the early MiG-23's and probably could give US fighters some trouble in 1:1 dogfights.

[LightningGuitar]

My new top dog, now must buy all upgrades though.

[kite]

Mig-23 MaLDing when my missiles decide to go to lunch

[colinlewiston]

i no life war thunder and can confirm u have great videos. all information is on point and correct. if they gave it r60ms it would be too good. r24s are already best missile in game

[DerSpeggn]

Another great review from my favourite WT youtuber

[erice.]

I read once that the MLD had comparable mobility to early F-16 Version.

[TheGranicd]

Lock on after launch is not what you think. Its used because radar would interfere with guidance while missile close to plane. And its not optional. Its automatic behaviour of missile.

[ThaiLitzki]

Heads up! They finally made it possible to have one R24R and one 24T!!!