The MiG-23 was designed from the beginning to carry brand new technologies, even some that would not be available when the initial variants of the MiG-23 were produced. It would ultimately carry a larger and more power radar with look-down shoot-down capabilities, along with the first medium range air to air radar guided missile of the USSR: the Vympel R-23. It also featured a swing wing, allowing it to change the wing geometry in flight to suit supersonic speed and acceleration with the wings folded back, or low speed maneuverability and take off and landing performing with the wings all the way forward, or anywhere in between. A high degree of automation for the time allowed the pilot to focus on combat. One of the coolest features in my opinion though was the integration of an IR search and track system (IRST) which would allow the pilot to find and lock onto airplanes without ever turning on the radar, preventing the enemy from detecting that they're being targeted. The MiG-23 could even launch missiles from beyond visual range (barely) without ever turning its radar on, or only briefly to verify that the plane it was locking was an enemy, using the combination of the IRST and the IR guided variant of the R-23: the R-23T.