In the 1960’s the Soviet military required a replacement for the MiG-21 that could compete with the USAF F-14 Tomcat. It had to be very fast, rapid acceleration, carry a larger payload, capable of a high service ceiling, long range and beyond visual range intercept capabilities. The project was given to the Mikoyan- Gurevich Design Bureau that produced the Model 23-11 that first flew on June 10, 1967. Production began in 1969 and eventually completed over 5,000 swing-wing MiG-23s. A ground-attack variant was also produced, the MiG-27.
On October 11, 1989, Major Adel Bassem was flying a Syrian MiG-23ML as part of a 2 aircraft training flight next to the Israeli held “Golan Heights”. Bassem saw the opportunity he had been waiting for and broke away from the second Syrian aircraft. He turned toward Israel and accelerated as he descended below radar coverage. With afterburners lit he crossed into Israel and landed at the civilian airport of Megiddo. This was a bit of embarrassment for the Israelis because the Syrian fighter was never challenged.
