MiG (Red Alert 1)

"Our latest advancement in air warfare, the MiG attack aircraft, is at your disposal. Essentially a bomber, use it to destroy heavy concentrations of Allied armor. With this, and your standard compliment of Yak aircraft, you should have no problem in keeping the convoy safe."

- Soviet officer during the briefing of Overseer

The MiG is a ground-attack aircraft used by the Soviets during the Second World War.

Background
The MiG is a swept wing fighter-bomber that mounts several missiles. MiG's are equipped with at least 3 undercarriage-mounted missiles, which are optimized for use against armoured targets. The MiG's reload extremely quickly and fly to and from their targets with equal speed, allowing savvy commanders to make strike after strike against an opponent. The missiles have a primitive homing apparatus, thus making it extremely difficult to successfully hit moving targets. Also, the MiG's had no means of attacking enemy aircraft except landed ones. In Red Alert Remastered it can target enemy aircraft.

Allied imitation
The Allies stole vital data on the design of the Soviet MiG and began using the information to build their own prototype. The prototype was designed to drop nuclear payloads and had improved armour; the prototype was superior to the standard Soviet version, although its extreme cost and technical requirements meant that it couldn't be mass-produced. The nuclear payloads were able to take out most structures with one hit. The prototype appears in the Legacy of Tesla mission, where Field Commander S7 was given the task of destroying the prototype and all bases defending it. Once the prototype was destroyed the project was terminated and no further attempts were made to replicate it.

Legacy
No MiG aircraft were seen in action during the. When the Psychic Dominator Disaster occurred, the Red Army revived its legacy with the production of a new model, this time serving the role of a hit-and-run tactical aircraft outfitted with precision laser-guided bombs. They were notably called in by the Soviet hero known as Boris.

Prior to the in the timeline altered by Anatoly Cherdenko, it is unknown whether either MiG model was utilized. However, a new MiG fighter, this time a dedicated interceptor fighter, specialized in taking on enemy aircraft, but having no means to attack ground targets.

Game unit
This fast-attack craft carries a limited number of powerful and accurate missiles, making them the deadliest air unit in the game. They're very effective against stationary targets, but they are not very armoured; a few hits will take one down, especially from an Allied anti-aircraft gun. MiG's have to be reloaded at an airfield after every attack, but they have the quickest reload time once they land.

Trivia

 * The MiG is portrayed by the MiG-23 Flogger or MiG-27 Flogger-D/J in the in-game sprite and the build icon. However, it is portrayed by the MiG-29 Fulcrum in the cutscenes. It is possible that the MiG-29 was an advanced prototype while the MiG-23 was the main version produced.