They don’t look very similar. That really must be the Il-76 being converted.

I bet the engines end up being D-30 equivalents, built for high sustained speeds and not high efficiency.

The MiG-23P couldn’t lookdown-shootdown up to western standards, it simply could depress it’s antenna. It was crude by western standards and pointless to shoot at targets in clutter.

The Su-15TM is not so great as a fighter considering it was designed solely as a bomber destroyer. See: http://sukhoi.org/eng/planes/museum/su15/

Since Sukhoi said it was so I’m pretty convinced it is so. What I also found interesting there was how the Flagon was sold to the government as being able to operate from rough strips, they type of rough strips used by propeller aircraft. Of course it took rocket-assist to take off and a large parachute to land on said runways.

The Flagon was basically the kid brother of the Foxbat. The Foxbat chased down the bigger threats while the Flagon took the light work. Nowhere have I seen it reported that the Flagon was maneuverable enough to chase down fighters. Nor was it particularly nimble to steer its radar against maneuvering targets, which is mandatory for someone launching semi-active radar homing missiles.

Developed for the Su-15TM updated interceptor, the Taifun was derived from the Smerch-A radar of the MiG-25P but smaller with slightly inferior performance.

RP-26 Taifun initial version, fitted to Su-15T. Proved very troublesome, the experimental units constructed by the developer (NIIP) being rather poor. The initial production sets, produced by Leninetz who built the series Smerch-A, proved rather better, and were used to finish testing.

RP-26M Taifun-M definitive version. Initial conical radome produced undesirable interference, reducing range, leading to a new ogival radome. Used in conjunction with the R-98 AAM.

Search range, in free space: 60-70 km (bomber) 45-55 km (fighter)
Tracking range, in free space: 40-45km (bomber) 35-40km (fighter)
Search range at low altitudes: 10-12km (bomber) 6-10km (fighter)
Tracking range at low altitudes: 7-10km (bomber) 5-10km (fighter)

Taifun-M2 final production version, introduced after Belenko’s defection which compromised the Smerch-A radar which Taifun was based on. While the MiG-25 got a new radar, the Su-15 simply got an update.

From: http://aerospace.boopidoo.com/philez/Su-15TM%20PICTURES%20&%20DOCS/Overscan%27s%20guide%20to%20Russian%20Military%20Avionics.htm

Doesn’t fuel improperly mix with supersonic air? How will you get oxygen to permeate the fuel in those conditions?

Remember that Su-15 also were more like the EE Lightning and F-106A where ground control could electronically steer the plane into firing position. A significant number of people were apart of ground control and they were telemetry experts, not just air controllers.

A true masterpiece of an aircraft;)

Only if it approached Mach 3 in performance and used some kind of standoff missile. The prototypes were pretty much straining to maintain low supersonic speeds and the plan was initially for it to fire guns rather than missiles. Granted the engine had a series of growing pains to master before introduction into service.