Finally, - I found a relativley comprehensive combat record for the Flogger-
"Western and Russian aviation historians usually differ in respect to the MiG-23 combat record, in part to the bias they practice for their respective national aircraft industries. They also usually accept claims that go along with their respective political views.
The first MiG-23s to see combat were export variants with many limitations. For example, the MiG-23MS lacked such a basic system as the radar warning receiver. In addition, compared to the MiG-21, the aircraft was mechanically complex and expensive. Early export variants also lacked many "war reserve modes" in their radars, making them vulnerable against ECM, which the Israelis were especially proficient at. Nonetheless, according to Soviet/Russian historians, the MiG-23MS did achieve kills. One of these victories was achieved on June 11, 1982, when two MiG-23MS (pilots Heyrat and Zabi) brought down with two AA-2 Atolls an Israeli F-4. Both MiG-23MS pilots were then shot down.
The MiG-23MS/MF took part in the 1982 Lebanon War. Israeli reports (which have been endorsed by the majority of Western historians) claim that during the period of intense fighting from June 6 to 11 of 1982, 85 Syrian aircraft were shot down in air combat by the Israelis with no Israeli losses. At least 30 of these aircraft were reported by Israeli sources to be MiG-23s.
According to Soviet/Russian sources, the Syrians lost only six MiG-23MFs and four downgraded export MiG-23MS fighters during that period in June over the Bekaa Valley, while the rest of the MiG-23s shot down by the Israelis were fourteen ground-attack variant MiG-23BNs. At the same time, Syrian MiG-23s managed to shoot down at least five F-16s, two F-4Es, and a BQM-34 unmanned reconnaissance plane. These are some of the Syrian MiG-23 kills as described in a Soviet/Russian source.
On June 7, 1982, three MiG-23MFs (pilots Hallyak, Said, Merza) attacked a group of F-16s. Captain Merza detected the F-16s at a distance of 25 km and brought down two F-16s with R-23/AA-7s Apex missiles (one from 9km, and another within the distance of 7 km or 8 km) before he himself was shot down. On June 8, 1982, two MiG-23MFs again met with F-16s. Major Hau's MiG-23 detected an F-16 at a distance of 21km and shot it down with an R-23 from a distance of 7km. Again, the Syrian pilot was himself shot down by an AIM-9 Sidewinder, fired from another F-16. On June 9, 1982, two MiG-23MFs, piloted by Dib and Said, attacked a group of F-16s. Dib brought down an F-16 from a distance of 6km with an R-23, but was then shot down, most likely by a Sidewinder.
Soviet sources state that three Israeli F-15s and one F-4 were shot down on October 1983 by the newly delivered MiG-23MLs, with no loses since then. Western historians deny these kills and believe that Syria lost at least two MiG-23MLs to Israeli F-15s in 1985.
The MiG-23 took part in the Iran-Iraq War, but its air combat results with the Iraqi Air Force are difficult to determine. Cuban MiG-23MLs and South African Mirage F1s had several encounters during Angolan War, one of which resulted in a Mirage being lost after it was damaged by an R-60 missile fired by a Cuban MiG-23ML. The South African pilot barely managed to save his life after the Mirage suffered several malfunctions that forced him to crash land, severely damaging the aircraft and causing it to be written off.
Soviet MiG-23MLDs and Pakistani F-16s clashed a few times during the Soviet-Afghan War. One F-16 was lost in 1987 with the circumstances of the loss not clear. Pakistan insists that it was a friendly fire incident, but it could have been destroyed by a MiG-23 as the Soviets/Russians have claimed. A year later, Soviet MiG-23MLDs, using R-24s, downed two Iranian AH-1J Cobras that intruded into Afghani airspace.
Two Libyan MiG-23s (MS variants) were shot down by US F-14s in the Gulf of Sidra incident in 1989. During the Persian Gulf War, the USAF reported to have downed eight Iraqi MiG-23s with F-15s."
+ this might interest those MiG-29 fans amongst you and highlights the Pilot skill Vs technology argument.-
"The MiG-23 was the Soviet Air Force's Top Gun equivalent aggressor from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. It proved to be a difficult opponent for early MiG-29 variants flown by inexperienced pilots. Exercises showed that when well flown, a MiG-23MLD could achieve favorable kill ratios against the MiG-29 in mock combat by using hit and run tactics and not engaging the MiG-29s in close combat dogfights. Usually the aggressor MiG-23MLDs had a shark mouth painted on the nose just aft of the radar dome and many of these were piloted by Soviet-Afghan War veterans. In the late 1980s, these aggressor MiG-23s were replaced by MiG-29s, also featuring shark mouths on their noses."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiG-23
:lam
