MiG fighter (Red Alert 3)

"MiG, ready to rule the skies!"

- MiG pilot

The MiG Fighter is a Soviet anti-aircraft fighter used during the War of the Three Powers and the Uprising.

History
The MiG is a plane created by Mikevich and Guroyan, two young Soviet designers that joined forces to create a next-generation air superiority fighter after the fiasco of the KA-3 Tesla plane, the crash of which took the life of Krasna Aerospace's lead aircraft designer's life. With Krasna in disarray and predictions that the Soviet Union would be unable to create a credible air superiority fighter for at least a decade, the two began their work under the auspices of the Mikoyan-Gurevich Aircraft Design Bureau.

Overview
The end result is a formidable air dominance fighter, with a revolutionary design. Its main weapon, the Type M burst missile, can accurately track and destroy enemy aircraft, no matter how much electronic countermeasures it uses, thanks to the multiple smaller warheads embedded in each missile. In addition, the missile is capable of doing splash damage, due to its clustered warheads. As a missile, it take more room in MiG's than bullet in the Allied and Imperial counterpart. Therefore MiG deplete its ammo faster and make MiG more fragile, thanks to its exposed hardpoints.

Markedly, it is the first Soviet fighter to have full VTOL capability, allowing for it to be deployed close to the front line from temporary airbases. However, due to the lack of precision-machined parts in mass produced fighter, the transition from hovering to flight is not as smooth as one might think - many flight students are unable to perform the maneuver of transitioning, much to the chagrin of flight instructors. However, once mastered, flying the MiG is surprisingly straightforward.

Cadets for the prestigious Soviet National Air Combat Division are picked by political officers, who scour schools for girls and boys that possess just the right mix of daring, aggression, and patriotism, qualities that are then honed for years by the Soviet Military Affairs Bureau.

The image of a fighter pilot is an alluring one in the Soviet society. The prospect of a brave defender of the Motherland in a fighter inspires, even dissidents, such as Boris Denisov, creator of The Empty Chair documentary.

In-game unit
"Can't handle it?"

- MiG while attacking the enemy

A clever tactic for MiGs involves using the Return to Base ability to catch up with fast-flying enemy aircraft. If an enemy aircraft is heading in the vague direction of the MiG's home Airfield, and the MiG cannot quite catch up with the enemy (e.g. an enemy Apollo Fighter), then the MiG can engage its Return to Base special ability afterburners, and thanks to the vastly increased speeds with the afterburners on, the MiG can catch up to the enemy, turn off the afterburners once it catches up, and blast the enemy aircraft out of the sky.

Dollar for dollar, MiGs are superior to Empire of the Rising Sun's Jet Tengus. Allied Apollo fighters, however, are still a threat, possessing greater speed and in a one-on-one battle it will typically win.

Pros

 * Deals radial damage, rendering it more effective against massed targets than Apollo fighters.
 * Fast
 * A true rival to the F-11X Apollo Fighter and the Jet Tengu
 * Much more effective against large targets than Apollos, because of burst damage.

Cons

 * Delays between salvos
 * Limited ammo
 * Cannot be repaired at the Airfield

Naming
"MiG" comes from Mikoyan and Gurevich (Микоян и Гуревич), the heads of the Soviet design bureau who created the aircraft. This is a play on the names of the real life creators of the MiG aircraft line: Mikoyan and Gurevich (Микоян и Гуревич). This MiG resembles a cross between the real life MiG-15 and F-7U Cutlass fighters.

The 'infamous M. Walker' mentioned above may be a reference to John Walker, who was an American spy in real-life that betrayed US submarine secrets to the Soviets.