During the late 1940s, the Cold War between the Free World and the Soviet Union escalated. During this period, the Soviet Union made great strides in developing a new combat aircraft, whicht were equal in performance to those built in the West. These included the MiG-15, whcih flew for the first time in December of 1947 and was cleared for mass production a year later. The first production batch of the MiG-17s began leaving the factory during August of 1951. Early production MiG-17s were primarily used as air superiority day fighters and escort fighters. The MiG-17 was an outstanding aircraft for its time. American fighter pilots found the MiG-17 to be a maneuverable dog-fighter not to be taken lightly.

 

The MiG-17F (F for Forsirovannyy-boosted or afterburner-boosted) was the widely produced variant of the MiG-17. The MiG-17F has seen combat in a number of local and regional conflicts around the world. The MiG-17F saw combat against American forces in Southeast Asia (including the Vietnam War).

 

Text excerpts courtesy of MiG-17 Fresco In Action 1992 Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc.