From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mikoyan
is a
Russian
company that designs
fighter
airplanes. The company was first formed in December
1939
as a design office called Mikoyan-Gurevich or MiG, this was because its designers were Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. Mikoyan will join other Russian airplane companies in a new company called United Aircraft Corporation.
In 1939 Russia was part of the
Soviet Union
and was
communist
. In the Soviet communist system there were two types of airplane companies, companies that designed aircraft known as design offices or OKB, and companies that made airplanes called zavods. Artom Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich had been designers in another design office helping a designer called Nikolai Polikarpov. One airplane design that Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich worked on at Polikarpov was called the I-200. When Nikolai Polikarpov lost the trust of the Soviet leader
Stalin
, Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich were given the I-200 design to finish. This airplane was given a new name and was called the
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1
. As it was being made, ways to make the MiG-1 into a better airplane were found and airplanes with these changes became known as the MiG-3 and later the MiG-7. However even with changes the MiG
fighter
airplanes were not as good as the fighter airplanes designed by the design offices of Lavochkin or Yakovlev.
After
World War II
Mikoyan-Gurevich designed
jet aircraft
. In the Soviet system the airplane designs of the design offices would compete to see which was the best. When the best design had been found the design would be built by the airplane manufacturing company. Even though Mikoyan-Gurevich airplanes in
World War II
had not been as good as airplanes by Lavochkin or Yakovlev. Mikoyan-Gurevich
jet aircraft
won more of the competitions to be sent to the zavods and in the time of the
Cold War
Mikoyan-Gurevich, together with another design office called
Sukhoi
, became one of the two most important design offices of fighter planes in the Soviet Union.
In the Soviet system decisions were made to protect the government from its own soldiers. In many countries there is only one airforce, the Soviet Union had five airforces. Two of these airforces were the main users of Soviet fighter airplanes. One airforce was called
PVO Strany
, this airforce was used to defend the cities and land of the Soviet Union. One airforce was called
Frontal Aviation
, this airforce was used to defend the Soviet Union's ground soldiers against enemy fighter airplanes, and to attack enemy ground forces. Mikoyan-Gurevich became the main designer of aircraft for
Frontal Aviation
.
Mikoyan has designed the following airplanes: