MiG-3

1. Lead

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was the Soviet Union’s high-altitude fighter of the Second World War, and one of the fastest piston-engine fighters of the conflict. Designed in 1940 as an interceptor for the defence of Soviet cities, it could reach a top speed of about 640 km/h at altitude, and it could climb to 12,000 metres — higher than almost any other fighter of the war.

Yet the MiG-3 is remembered as a troubled aircraft: it was difficult to fly, it was hard to see out of, its engine was unreliable, and at low altitude, where most of the fighting on the Eastern Front took place, it was slower and less manoeuvrable than the German fighters it met.

More than 3,400 were built, and the MiG-3 served from the first day of the German invasion in June 1941 to the defence of Moscow, and then as a reconnaissance aircraft, before it was withdrawn from front-line service in 1943.

Its story is the story of an aircraft that was designed for one war and fought in another, and of a design bureau — Mikoyan-Gurevich — that learned from its failure and went on to build some of the most famous fighters in history.

The MiG-3’s story begins with a race. In the late 1930s, the Soviet Union needed a modern fighter to replace the Polikarpov I-16, and several design bureaus competed to build it. The Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, which had been formed only in 1939, produced a design that was fast, clean and ambitious — and that was built around an engine, the Mikulin AM-35, that had been designed for a high-altitude bomber.

The aircraft that resulted was the fastest Soviet fighter of its day, and it was ordered into production in large numbers. But the war that came in June 1941 was not the war the MiG-3 had been designed for: the German bombers did not come at high altitude, the fighting was at low level, and the MiG-3’s pilots found themselves in an aircraft that was at its worst where they needed it to be at its best.

The MiG-3’s failure was not a failure of courage — its pilots fought bravely, above all in the defence of Moscow — but a failure of design, and it is remembered as one of the most instructive failures in the history of fighter design.

2. Key Facts

Type	Single-engine high-altitude fighter / interceptor
Origin	Soviet Union
Designer	Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich
Manufacturer	Zavod No. 1, Moscow
First flight	29 March 1940 (as the I-200 prototype)
In service	1941–1943 (front line); later as reconnaissance
Produced	1940–1942; 3,422 built (including 100 MiG-1)
Crew	1
Length	8.3 m
Wingspan	10.2 m
Height	3.5 m
Empty weight	About 2,700 kg
Maximum take-off weight	About 3,350 kg
Engine	Mikulin AM-35A V-12, about 1,350 hp
Top speed	About 640 km/h at 7,800 m
Range	About 820–1,000 km depending on load
Service ceiling	About 12,000 m
Armament	One 12.7 mm Berezin UB and two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns; later versions with two 20 mm ShVAK cannon; up to 200 kg of bombs or six RS-82 rockets
Notable pilot	Alexander Pokryshkin flew the MiG-3 in 1941

3. Background and Development

The race for a new fighter

The MiG-3 was born of a competition. In the late 1930s, the Soviet Air Force needed a new fighter to replace the Polikarpov I-16, which had been the world’s first low-wing monoplane fighter when it entered service in 1934, but which was obsolete by 1939.

The Soviet government invited the design bureaus to compete, and three designs emerged as the leading contenders: the Yakovlev Yak-1, the Lavochkin LaGG-3 and the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-200, which became the MiG-1 and then the MiG-3. The Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau had been formed only in December 1939, when Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich were given a team and a factory, and their design was the most ambitious of the three: it was built around the Mikulin AM-35 engine, a powerful V-12 that had been designed for the Petlyakov Pe-8 heavy bomber, and it was designed for speed and for altitude.

The I-200 prototype flew on 29 March 1940, and it was immediately the fastest Soviet fighter: it reached 640 km/h at altitude, and it could climb to 12,000 metres.

From MiG-1 to MiG-3

The I-200 became the MiG-1, which entered production in 1940, and then the MiG-3, which entered production in early 1941. The MiG-3 was an improved MiG-1: it had a larger fuel tank, a better radiator, a revised canopy and a stronger airframe, and it was produced in large numbers — 3,422 MiG-1s and MiG-3s were built in total, most of them MiG-3s.

The Soviet government ordered the aircraft into mass production because it was the fastest fighter available, and because it was believed that the next war would be fought at high altitude, with bombers attacking Soviet cities from above. That belief was wrong, and the MiG-3’s production was a gamble on a war that never came.

The aircraft’s engine, the AM-35, was also a problem: it was designed for a bomber, not for a fighter, and it was unreliable, difficult to maintain, and in short supply, because the same engine was needed for the Pe-8 bomber.

The invasion

The MiG-3’s war began on 22 June 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. On that morning, the Soviet Air Force lost thousands of aircraft on the ground, and the MiG-3 regiments, which were among the best equipped in the Soviet Air Force, were among the hardest hit.

The MiG-3s that survived took to the air, and their pilots found that the aircraft was at its worst where the fighting was: at low altitude, the MiG-3 was slower and less manoeuvrable than the Messerschmitt Bf 109, its engine overheated, and its armament — a single 12.7 mm machine gun and two 7.62 mm machine guns — was too light to destroy a German fighter or a bomber quickly.

The MiG-3’s pilots fought bravely, but they were flying an aircraft that had been designed for a different war, and their losses were heavy.

4. Design

Airframe and engine

The MiG-3 was a clean, single-engine, all-metal monoplane, with a low wing, a retractable undercarriage and a streamlined fuselage. Its wingspan of 10.2 metres and its length of 8.3 metres made it a compact aircraft, and its Mikulin AM-35A engine, a V-12 of about 1,350 horsepower, gave it a top speed of about 640 km/h at 7,800 metres and a ceiling of about 12,000 metres.

The engine was the aircraft’s strength and its weakness: at high altitude, it was powerful and efficient, and it gave the MiG-3 a performance that no other Soviet fighter could match; at low altitude, it was unreliable, it overheated, and it gave the aircraft a performance that was worse than that of the Yak-1 and the LaGG-3.

The AM-35 was also in short supply, because it was needed for the Pe-8 bomber, and the MiG-3’s production was limited by the availability of engines.

Cockpit, visibility and armament

The MiG-3’s cockpit was one of its worst features. The pilot sat low in the fuselage, with a poor view forward and to the sides, and the aircraft’s long nose made it difficult to see the target in a turn. The canopy was small, and the pilot’s view to the rear was almost non-existent, which made the aircraft vulnerable to attack from behind.

The armament was light: one 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine gun and two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, all firing through the propeller, and later versions carried two 20 mm ShVAK cannon in place of the machine guns. The MiG-3 could also carry up to 200 kg of bombs or six RS-82 rockets, but its principal role was as a fighter, and its armament was too light for the job.

The aircraft’s pilots complained about the visibility and the armament, and their complaints were justified: the MiG-3 was a difficult aircraft to fight in, and its pilots needed all their skill to make it effective.

Strengths and limits

The MiG-3’s strength was its performance at high altitude. At 7,800 metres, it was the fastest fighter in the world, and at 12,000 metres, it could fly higher than any other fighter of the war. Its weakness was everything else: at low altitude, it was slow, it was unmanoeuvrable, its engine overheated, its visibility was poor, and its armament was light.

The MiG-3 was designed for a war that never came — a war of high-altitude bombers attacking Soviet cities — and it was asked to fight a war that did come — a war of low-level fighting over the Eastern Front.

Its failure was a failure of design, not of courage, and it taught the Soviet design bureaus a lesson that they never forgot: a fighter must be good at the altitude where the fighting actually takes place.

5. Variants

Variant	Years	Key features	Production
I-200	1940	Prototype; AM-35 engine	3 prototypes
MiG-1	1940–1941	First production version; small fuel tank	100
MiG-3	1941–1942	Main version; larger fuel tank, better radiator	About 3,200
MiG-3P	1941–1942	Cannon-armed version; two 20 mm ShVAK	Small numbers
MiG-3 with AM-38	1941	Experimental; low-altitude engine; not adopted	1
MiG-3U	1943	Improved version; not produced	1 prototype
MiG-7	—	Proposed high-altitude version; never built	0

The MiG-3 was the version that fought the war. It differed from the MiG-1 in its larger fuel tank, which gave it a longer range, its better radiator, which reduced the engine’s overheating, and its revised canopy, which improved the pilot’s view slightly.

The MiG-3P, the cannon-armed version, carried two 20 mm ShVAK cannon in place of the machine guns, and it was the version that the Soviet aces preferred, because its armament was heavy enough to destroy a German aircraft quickly. The experimental MiG-3 with the AM-38 engine, which had been designed for low-altitude use in the Il-2, was an attempt to solve the MiG-3’s low-altitude problem, but it was not adopted, and the MiG-3’s production ended in 1942, when the Soviet government decided that the Yak-1 and the LaGG-3 were better fighters for the war that was actually being fought.

The cannon-armed MiG-3P

The MiG-3P deserves a note of its own, because it was the MiG-3 at its best. Its two 20 mm ShVAK cannon gave it a firepower that the standard MiG-3 lacked, and its pilots, including the future ace Alexander Pokryshkin, found that it could destroy a German aircraft with a single burst. The MiG-3P was built in small numbers, and it was used by the most experienced pilots, who could make the most of its performance. The MiG-3P’s existence shows that the MiG-3’s designers knew what the aircraft needed — a heavier armament — and that they tried to provide it, even if the standard production aircraft never received it.

Production: a short run

The MiG-3 was built in a short production run, and its production shows how quickly the Soviet Union changed its mind about the aircraft. The Zavod No. 1 factory in Moscow built 3,422 MiG-1s and MiG-3s between 1940 and 1942, and most of them were MiG-3s.

The factory was evacuated to Kuibyshev in the autumn of 1941, when the German Army approached Moscow, and the aircraft’s production continued there, in difficult conditions, until it ended in 1942. The MiG-3’s production ended because the Soviet government decided that the Yak-1 and the LaGG-3 were better fighters for the war that was actually being fought, and because the AM-35 engine was needed for the Pe-8 bomber.

The MiG-3’s production was short, but it was an important programme: it was the first aircraft built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, and it taught the bureau how to build a fighter.

6. Operational History

The invasion and the defence of Moscow, 1941

The MiG-3’s war began on 22 June 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The MiG-3 regiments were among the best equipped in the Soviet Air Force, and they were among the hardest hit on the first day: many of their aircraft were destroyed on the ground, and the survivors took to the air against an enemy that outnumbered them and outclassed them at low altitude.

The MiG-3’s pilots fought bravely, and they claimed victories, but their losses were heavy, and the regiments were soon withdrawn to re-equip. In the autumn of 1941, the MiG-3s were used in the defence of Moscow, where they intercepted German bombers attacking the capital, and where their high-altitude performance was, for once, an advantage: the German bombers came at altitude, and the MiG-3 could reach them.

The defence of Moscow was the MiG-3’s finest hour, and it is remembered as such in Soviet history.

The Eastern Front, 1942–1943

High-altitude interception and reconnaissance

After the defence of Moscow, the MiG-3’s front-line service declined. The aircraft was withdrawn from the fighter regiments and used as a high-altitude interceptor, defending Soviet cities against German reconnaissance aircraft, and as a reconnaissance aircraft, flying long missions over German-held territory. The MiG-3’s high-altitude performance made it well suited to these roles: it could fly higher than the German fighters, and it could photograph German positions from an altitude where it was safe from interception. The MiG-3’s reconnaissance service was its most successful: it provided the Soviet command with information about German movements, and it did so with relatively few losses, because the German fighters could not reach it at altitude.

Pokryshkin and the aces

The MiG-3’s most famous pilot was Alexander Pokryshkin, who flew the MiG-3 in 1941 with the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment, and who went on to become one of the most successful Soviet aces of the war, with 59 confirmed victories.

Pokryshkin disliked the MiG-3 — he found it difficult to fly, and he preferred the P-39 Airacobra that he flew later in the war — but he learned his trade in the MiG-3, and his experience in it shaped the tactics that he developed later.

Pokryshkin’s story is the MiG-3’s story: a difficult aircraft, flown by a brave pilot, in a war for which it was not designed, and a pilot who learned from it and went on to greater things.

Withdrawal from the front line

The MiG-3 was withdrawn from front-line fighter service in 1943, when the Yak-1, the LaGG-3 and the La-5 had taken over the fighter role, and when the Soviet government decided that the AM-35 engine was needed for the Pe-8 bomber. The MiG-3’s production had already ended in 1942, and the surviving aircraft were used as reconnaissance aircraft and as trainers, and then retired. The MiG-3’s service was short — two years at the front — but it had been an important aircraft: it had defended Moscow, it had flown reconnaissance missions that no other Soviet aircraft could fly, and it had taught the Soviet design bureaus a lesson that shaped the fighters that followed it.

7. Performance and Specifications

Specification	MiG-3
Engine	Mikulin AM-35A, about 1,350 hp
Top speed	About 640 km/h at 7,800 m
Top speed at sea level	About 500 km/h
Range	About 820–1,000 km
Service ceiling	About 12,000 m
Rate of climb	About 14 m/s
Armament	One 12.7 mm UB, two 7.62 mm ShKAS (or two 20 mm ShVAK in the MiG-3P)
Bombs / rockets	Up to 200 kg of bombs or six RS-82 rockets
Crew	1
Number built	3,422 (including 100 MiG-1)

Fast at altitude, slow down low

The MiG-3’s performance was a paradox. At 7,800 metres, it was the fastest fighter in the world, with a top speed of about 640 km/h; at sea level, its top speed was about 500 km/h, which was slower than the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Yakovlev Yak-1.

Its ceiling, about 12,000 metres, was the highest of any fighter of the war, and its rate of climb, about 14 metres per second, was good. But its performance at low altitude, where the fighting on the Eastern Front took place, was poor: it was slow, it was unmanoeuvrable, and its engine overheated.

The MiG-3’s performance was built for a war that never came, and it was a reminder that a fighter’s performance must be judged at the altitude where it will actually fight.

Against its contemporaries

Compared with the Yakovlev Yak-1, the MiG-3 was faster at altitude but slower at low level, less manoeuvrable, and more difficult to fly. Compared with the Lavochkin LaGG-3, the MiG-3 was faster and could fly higher, but the LaGG-3 was tougher and easier to maintain. Compared with the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the MiG-3 was faster at altitude but slower at low level, and its armament was lighter.

The MiG-3’s place was as a high-altitude interceptor, and in that role it had no Soviet equal, but the war was not fought at high altitude, and the MiG-3’s advantage was rarely useful. The Yak-1 and the La-5, which were designed for low-level fighting, were the fighters that won the air war on the Eastern Front, not the MiG-3.

8. Operators

The Soviet Union

The MiG-3 was used almost exclusively by the Soviet Union, by the fighter regiments of the Soviet Air Force and the air defence forces (PVO). The MiG-3 regiments fought in the defence of Moscow, on the Eastern Front and in the air defence of Soviet cities, and they were among the best equipped regiments in the Soviet Air Force in 1941. The MiG-3 was never exported in significant numbers, and it remained a Soviet aircraft throughout its service. After the war, the MiG-3 was retired, and its place was taken by the Yak-3, the La-7 and the jet fighters that followed.

No significant exports

The MiG-3’s lack of exports is a measure of its failure: it was not a successful aircraft, and no other country wanted it. The Soviet Union’s allies received Yak-1s and La-5s, not MiG-3s, and the MiG-3 remained a Soviet aircraft, flown by Soviet pilots, in a Soviet war.

The MiG-3’s story is a Soviet story, and it is remembered as such in Russia, where the aircraft is regarded with a mixture of pride and regret: pride, because it was the fastest fighter in the world at altitude, and regret, because it was not the fighter that the Soviet Union needed.

The Soviet Union’s allies received aircraft that were better suited to the war they were fighting: the Yak-1 and the La-5 were fighters for low-level combat, and they were the aircraft that the Soviet Union exported. The MiG-3 remained a Soviet aircraft, and it is remembered in Russia as a Soviet failure and a Soviet lesson, rather than as an export success.

9. Legacy and Influence

A lesson in fighter design

The MiG-3’s most important legacy is a lesson: a fighter must be good at the altitude where the fighting actually takes place. The MiG-3 was designed for high-altitude combat, and it was the best high-altitude fighter in the world, but the war was fought at low altitude, and the MiG-3’s advantage was useless.

That lesson shaped the Soviet fighters that followed: the Yak-3 and the La-7 were designed for low-level fighting, and they were the fighters that won the air war on the Eastern Front. The MiG-3’s failure also shaped the Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau: it learned from the MiG-3, and it went on to build the MiG-15, the MiG-21 and the MiG-29, some of the most famous fighters in history.

The MiG-3 was a failure, but it was a failure that taught its designers how to succeed.

The beginning of MiG

The MiG-3’s second legacy is the MiG name itself. The Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, which had been formed only in 1939, built its reputation on the MiG-1 and the MiG-3, and the “MiG” name became one of the most famous in aviation history. The MiG-15, which fought in the Korean War, the MiG-21, which fought in Vietnam, and the MiG-29, which serves to this day, all trace their lineage to the bureau that built the MiG-3. The MiG-3 was the beginning of MiG, and its failure was the beginning of the bureau’s education. The aircraft is remembered in Russia as the first MiG, and as the aircraft that taught its designers what a fighter needed to be.

10. Surviving Examples

Originals and replicas

Few original MiG-3s survive, and the best known is at the Central Air Force Museum in Monino, near Moscow, where a MiG-3 is displayed as an example of the Soviet Union’s high-altitude fighter. Other original aircraft and components survive in museums in Russia, and several airworthy replicas have been built from recovered wrecks, using original parts and new construction, and they fly at airshows in Russia and in the West. The replicas are a tribute to the aircraft’s place in history: they show that the MiG-3, for all its faults, is remembered as the first MiG, and as the fighter that defended Moscow.

Restoration and memory

The MiG-3’s survivors are the subject of restoration projects, and the aircraft is remembered in Russia through the museums that hold the surviving aircraft and through the histories of the defence of Moscow. For most visitors, the easiest way to see a MiG-3 is at Monino, where the surviving aircraft stands as a reminder of the fighter that was the fastest in the world at altitude, and of the bureau that built it and went on to build the MiG-15, the MiG-21 and the MiG-29.

The replicas that fly today were built by enthusiasts in Russia and in the West, using parts recovered from crash sites and new components made to the original drawings. Their flights at airshows give modern audiences a sense of what the MiG-3 looked and sounded like, and they keep the memory of the first MiG alive for a new generation.

The Monino aircraft, which is the best-known original, is displayed alongside the other Soviet fighters of the war.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the MiG-3?
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a Soviet single-engine high-altitude fighter of the Second World War, the fastest Soviet fighter at altitude. 3,422 MiG-1s and MiG-3s were built.

Why was the MiG-3 withdrawn from front-line service?
The MiG-3 was poor at low altitude, where most of the fighting on the Eastern Front took place, and its engine was needed for the Pe-8 bomber. It was replaced by the Yak-1, LaGG-3 and La-5.

How fast was the MiG-3?
The MiG-3 had a top speed of about 640 km/h at 7,800 metres, and a ceiling of about 12,000 metres, the highest of any fighter of the war.

Who flew the MiG-3?
Alexander Pokryshkin, one of the most successful Soviet aces of the war, flew the MiG-3 in 1941, before he flew the P-39 Airacobra.

What was the difference between the MiG-1 and the MiG-3?
The MiG-3 was an improved MiG-1, with a larger fuel tank, a better radiator, a revised canopy and a stronger airframe.

Where can I see a MiG-3 today?
A MiG-3 is displayed at the Central Air Force Museum in Monino, near Moscow, and airworthy replicas fly at airshows in Russia and the West.

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Sources

1. Wikipedia, “Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3” — first flight, production of 3,422, specifications, variants and operational history.
2. Yefim Gordon and Dmitri Khazanov, Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War, Vol. 1: Single-Engined Fighters (Midland, 1998) — development, the MiG-1 and the MiG-3.
3. Alexander Pokryshkin, Sky of War (Moscow, 1970) — the MiG-3 in combat in 1941.
4. Von Hardesty, Red Phoenix (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982) — the Soviet fighter force and the defence of Moscow.
5. Bill Gunston, The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft (Osprey, 1995) — specifications and variants.
6. The Central Air Force Museum, Monino, “Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3” — the surviving aircraft.