MiG BL / FK

This two-seat flying laboratory was basically an FS airframe that had been modified to develop the guidance system of the KS-1 Komet. This air-to-surface missile was designed to be launched from a Tu-16KS-1 bomber (one unit under each wing) in its antiship role.

The missile guidance system operator was seated in the unpressur­ized rear cockpit. Like the KS-1, the MiG-9L had two radar antennae. The first one above the engine air intake was used to illuminate the tar­get, and the signals reflected back were picked up by two receivers on the wing leading edge, on either side of the cockpit. The other one, which both transmitted and received signals and was located at the top of the fin, was used to develop the guidance systems of both the launching aircraft and the missile During the test phase, the launching aircraft was a Tu-4 bomber. This flying laboratory was reequipped in 1949 to test new radar guidance systems for four years.

Specifications

Span, 10 m (32 ft 9.7 in); length, 10.2 m (33 ft 2.4 in); wheel track, 1.95 m (6 ft 4.8 in); wheel base, 3.072 m (10 ft 0.9 in); wing area, 18 2 m2 (195.9 sq ft).