The German Luftwaffe in July and August of 1941 encountered for the first time a previously unknown Russian fighter with a long slender nose. It was obviously powered by an inline or "Vee" type engine, which was also surprising because all the Soviet fighters up to that time were powered by radial engines and lacked the performance of the front line German fighters. The Luftwaffe pilots were taken completely by surprise by the existence of this new fighter, because their information from Luftwaffe intelligence about the Soviet Air Force was practically non-existent.
Germany's top fighter at the time was the Bf 109F and the Luftwaffe pilots were equally surprised and disconcerted, to discover this new Soviet fighter could out maneuver at high altitude, fly faster and fly longer, than the Messerschmitt. The MiG-3 had arrived!
Because in the West at that time, the Bf 109F was considered to be the best, or at the very least one of the best, air superiority fighters in the world, the MiG-3 deserves to looked at more closely. The "MiG" was the acronym of the Mikoyan-Gurevich Experimental Construction Bureau design team.
The first model was the MiG-1, a high altitude interceptor powered by a V-12 Mikulin engine that developed 1350 horsepower. It was a sleek, low wing, cantilever monoplane armed with one 50 calibre machine gun and two 30 calibre machine guns, all three mounted in the nose and sychronized to fire through the propeller arc. The first unarmed prototype achieved a top speed of 403 mph, at 20,000 feet, which made it the fastest fighter in the world at that time.
The flight testing program revealed that there were flaws in the design, so modifications were incorporated and the MiG-3 was born. It was built around a steel tube frame with duralumin skin which strengthened the frame. Outwardly it still resembled the MiG-1, but the engine had been moved forward four inches to change the centre of gravity, the dihedral of the wing of the outer wing was increased by one degree, while the height of the rear fuselage was reduced for better rear vision for the pilot. For the engine compartment, the supercharger intakes were enlarged and the radiator fairing moved forward. A 55-gallon fuselage fuel tank was added to increase the range, more armor for the cockpit and finally, four hard-points were added to the wings. This allowed for the installation of small bombs or 6 rockets.
Unfortunately, the production of the MiG-3 was abruptly ended when Stalin ordered the Mikulin engines diverted to the IL-2 attack bomber. Total production amounted to 3120 aircraft with another 50 built from spare parts and through cannibalization of wrecks. There was a later attempt to mate the MiG-3 with a 14 cylinder air-cooled radial engine, but it was not successful.
Many of the production MiG-3's had a .30 caliber machine gun mounted under each wing. This still did not give the MiG-3 firepower parity with the Bf 109F, but it did give more firepower for ground attacks.
Basic specs on the MiG-3 were: Maximum speed of 314 mph at sea level, 398 mph at 35, 590 feet. Its rate of climb was 10 mins to 26,000 feet and the service ceiling was 39,370 ft. It had a range of 512 miles at 342 mph, a maximum range of 743 miles. Empty weight of 5950 lbs and a take-off weight of 7739 with under-wing guns and a full fuel load. Its length was 27 ft, wingspan 33 feet, with a height of only 8 feet.
On paper the MiG-3 and the Messerschmitt Bf 109F were closely comparable fighters. In fact however, the 109 had the advantage of a better initial climb rate and better maneuverability at low to medium speeds and at low to medium altitudes, where most of the dogfighting took place on the Eastern front. The MiG-3 had the advantage in level speed and in range, many times the 109s had to break off because their fuel was running dangerously low. The MiG-3 also had the advantage of much better performance over 30,000 feet but the Bf 109's seldom flew that high.
The MiG-3 never got a chance to play the role it had been designed for: to combat high altitude bombers. The Luftwaffe did not build the four-engine bomber that was meant for use over the Soviet industrial areas. The Russians moved their factories east far enough that they were out of range of the twin engine bombers, so the MiG-3 was forced to fight in a low altitude arena for which it was not designed.
The Germans had one other crucial advantage, their fighters were equipped with the modern reflector gunsights. Most Soviet aircraft had simple gunsights, sometimes a circle drawn on the windshield. It was not until delivery of the P-39 and P-40 fighters that they were finally able to install modern gunsights on their fighters.
In spite of such drawbacks, some Russian pilots were able to achieve some awesome kill figures. Alexander Pokryskin scored 59 official victories, about forty in a MiG-3, the remainder in the P-39. He also destroyed an additional 13 German planes over enemy occupied territory , but these were not officially counted as they were not shot down over Soviet controlled territory. According to Pravda, Pokryshkin flew 650 missions, was involved in 156 air-to-air battles and never lost a wingman. He eventually became a Marshall of the Air Force during the Cold War.
In the last years of the war, the Yak-9 became the dominant fighter for the Soviets and probably contributed more than any other Russian fighter plane to the final defeat of the Luftwaffe. But the first bright, shining star of the Soviet fighter elements was the MiG-3.
