The majority of Soviet fighter jets, from the MiG-9 on, had the jet engine air intake positioned in the nose of the aircraft. Almost no fighter jets developed in other countries had this. Why the difference?
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Early Western Jet fighters like the F-86 Saber also had a nose air intake, but Western designers generally abandoned this in the next generation of fighters.
Positioning of the inlets is a complex problem for fighters because you have to factor in shock waves, turning, and various other factors to make sure you don’t starve the engine of air.
Putting the intake on the nose cone is the easy way out, it’s just simpler to design a fighter that way. The intake becomes a straight line from the nose of the aircraft to the engine.
Soviet design has always favored simplicity of design to reduce costs, increase overall numbers of aircraft, and for ease of maintenance. The Soviets believed that they could make up for a lack of technology with sheer numbers, while the Americans in particular relied more on force-multipliers the concept of using technology to do more with less aircraft.
In the west onboard radar became commonplace very early on. They decided that putting the dish in the nose cone was the optimal, and only practical position. So under nose scopes (like the Corsair or F-16) and side inlets became the norm.
Soviet design eventually follow suited with their later generation fighters as they also integrated radars and adapted their designs based on newer research. Prior to this Soviet fighters relied far more heavily on ground based radar stations.
On a side note it’s important to know that in American and European fighters the master arm switch for the weapons is in the cockpit, while for Soviet fighters it was on the ground. Soviet pilots could only shoot back if their superiors specifically allowed it, while in the West it was up to the pilots discretion. This in part drove the Soviets to rely more on Ground based Radar
Unlike most western designers, the Soviets didn’t try to package a radar in the nose of their aircraft until much later. Without the need to stuff a large sensor array in the front, the nose intake is more efficient/aerodynamic than other designs, anything sticking out beyond the fuselage creates additional drag and problems.
There are two conflicting issues in fighter design:
1) The best place, aerodynamically and mechanically, for the air intake is centerline in the plane’s nose.
2) The only place that its practical to put forward looking radar on a fighter is in the nose.
If you want radar in a plane, it needs to go in the nose and you have to put the air intake somewhere else. If you don’t want radar, there’s no reason not to put the air intake in the nose.
The first Soviet plane to have any form of radar was the MiG-27 in 1975. Conversely, the US never made a jet that had no radar whatsoever. Even the F-86, which had a nose intake, had a very limited gunsight radar positioned just above the intake. Every US plane after the F-86 had a full, forward looking radar set that took up the entire nose of the plane.
Design philosophy. The saying goes that American equipment is for soldiers, and Soviet equipment is for revolutionaries. American weapons are meant to be as effective as possible, cost be damned. Soviet weapons are meant to be easy to maintain and use, so that any revolutionary off the street can be passable with a bit of training.
Nose intakes are easier to build and maintain.
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