> "It turned out that the weight of the aircraft necessitated large wings." As opposed to other combat aircrafts featuring large wings for high-altitude perfor

> "It turned out that the weight of the aircraft necessitated large wings." As opposed to other combat aircrafts featuring large wings for high-altitude performance and maneuverability. Before we diss steel as viable aircraft material, note that weight was increased both by heavy engines† and presumeably heavy avionics, as those were based on vacuum tubes. Including a 600kW (!) radar, if we are to quote Wikipedia everywhere. † the engines alone, at 4900kg a pair are 25% of MiG's dry weight, add some overhead for support structures necessited by their sheer power. For contrast, F/A-18's engines are 20% of dry weight.