We owe the victory in the Great Patriotic War not only to the courage of soldiers, partisans and home front workers. The equipment that entered the battlefield played a huge role. Powerful, reliable and unpretentious weapons, created in huge numbers by the USSR military-industrial complex, helped our people defeat the most dangerous enemy.
Today, the legendary models of Soviet fighters, tanks, artillery, and small arms have been replaced by worthy descendants.
A.I. Pokryshkin on the background of the MiG-3
MiG-3 fighters played a significant role in air battles, especially in the early period of the Great Patriotic War. In the first months of hostilities, these machines were the most among the new type of Soviet aircraft. Special merit belongs to the MiG-3, which defended the skies of Moscow and Leningrad as part of the air defense aviation. Despite its main specialty, the aircraft was used both as an attack aircraft and as a light bomber.
Fighter aircraft was the main means of combating the aerial enemy. 710 enemy planes were shot down by pilots who fought on the MiG-3, including the legendary Alexander Pokryshkin, three times Hero of the Soviet Union. The "troika" proved especially successful in night battles. Aviation regiments armed with MiGs were among the first in the Red Army Air Force to become Guards.
Photo: United Aircraft Corporation
Nowadays, the fourth-generation MiG-31 fighters are on combat duty in the area of their own defense. They are used to intercept and destroy various aerial targets in any conditions and at any altitude, primarily enemy bombers and cruise missiles.
Armed with the Dagger missile system, the MiG-31 has mastered a new role for itself – an attack aircraft. In it, it is no less effectively used in combat. In 2023, a modern American Patriot air defense system was hit by a Dagger strike. Today, fighter jets are being modernized, new avionics and weapons are being installed.
