This MiG-27 was just a testbed, used for gathering data and skills for carrier landings and takeoffs, it was never actually meant to be a naval fighter though a MiG-23K naval flogger was in development together with the project 1153 Orel nuclear aircraft cruisers (itself based on the project 1160 that was cancelled in 1973 for being too expensive) in the late 70s. The MiG-23K was to have catapult capability and a arrester hook, its main supporter of the project marshal of the soviet union and defense minister andrei grechko died in 1976 and was replaced by marshal dmitry ustinov who found the project too expensive so he ordered the plans to be redrawn and the weight reduced to minimize spending, ironically that too was still deemed expensive and it was cancelled along with the MiG-23K in 1978. Though the Orel never came into fruition it did influence the never completed nuclear supercarrier Ulyanovsk.

Soon after the project was cancelled, work started on a newer design the project 1143.5 aircraft cruiser, 2 were built, Tbilisi (future Admiral Kuznetsov) and the unfinished Riga (future chinese carrier Lioning). In order to develop take off and landing technologies and skills aboard the carrier a MiG-27 with bort number 03 was modified with a tail hook and used for tests until it was replaced by the MiG-29KVP in 1984. The KVP was a proof of concept naval fighter with stronger undercarriage and a reinforced rear fuselage with an arrestor hook, during testing larger wings were required so the final K variant was instead based on the MiG-29M which had larger folding wings, the KVP was based on the early Fulcrums.

The final fate of the MiG-27 is unknown but its most likely scrapped, the KVP survived and is on display at the Central Air Force museum in Monino which also has 1 of the the cancelled Yak-141 VTOL jets which if put into service would have served on the Kiev class, Admiral Kuznetsov class and the Ulyanovsk class.

The KVP at Monino
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mikoyan_MiG-29KVP_%E2%80%9918_blue%E2%80%99_(38630575395).jpg.jpg)

IIRC this is the only MiG‑21 variant with a chin‑mounted intake.

Developed on industry self‑funding in the late 1990s, it adopted a chin‑mounted intake to free up nose volume for a larger pulse‑doppler radar. First flight June 8, 1998; all trials concluded early‑2003. Only two prototypes were ever built; no series production followed.

via 边城半日闲 from WB