Luftwaffe Designation for Russian Aircraft as 'J-18'

[oquaig]

Originally Posted by Rottler

Hello Tim,

there were different designations for the same type. In this case I-200, I-17 and I-18 for MiG-1.
Source: JFV part 6/I page 11.

Regards
Leo

Hi everyone,

The I-17 was a Polikarpov design designation and was used for three different prototypes between 1933 and 1936. The last version of this was built with an inline water cooled engine similar to the later MiGs. It was on display at the Paris Air Show in 1936 and never put into production. The Luftwaffe intell people probably thought the MiG was an out growth of the I-17 hence their designation and because of its similar appearance to the MiG. The was no I-18 (which was another Polikarpov project and was a study only). The I-18 designation is something the Germans cooked up on their own. The MiG was designed by the team A. I. Mikoyan and M. I. Gurevich and was an entirely new design not related to Polikarpov's work. It was originally designated I-61 but a few months later changed to I-200. It was produced at Fili (Moscow) one of the factories that Ashenbrenner was shown in April 1941. All of this info comes from Lennart Anderssen's "Soviet Aircraft and Aviation 1917-1941".

Hope that helps a little
oquaig

[Tim O.]

Thanks again Oquaig