In the late 1960s Soviet Union started working on fighters that would be
a counterbalance for the American F-15 Eagle. In 1969, a competition for
a new fighter was announced, but when the parameters to be met were
given, Pavel Sukhoi withdrew from it. He considered that the required
performance could not be reached.
Despite this, the designers from his office - Oleg Samojtowicz, Valery
Nikolaenko and Vladimir Antonov - developed the plane and presented it
for the competition as T-10 protoype. The aircraft was constructed as a
heavy interceptor fighter (light version was the MiG-29, which was
submitted in the same competition).