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
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