ok,
I am looking for a plane. I will try to keep this from getting confusing. The manufacturer was in one country we'll call A. This company was well known for building previous figher designs for another country that we will call B. The plane's engine was supplied by a third country, we'll call C. C and B were classic arch enemies. The plane I am looking for was not built for either B or C--ironically, it flew in combat against B, and at the same time, B flew some captured examples as well.
This plane had 3 major shortcomings in its design. Of these, there were attempts made to address two of them, with one example being modified for each attempt. The plane was a solid design, and actually proved quite capable of defeating it's usual opponent, but with fewer than 300 built, it never really had a chance. It did serve with several air forces, and found its greatest success in an air force that became known for having shocking success with planes that everyone else already had discarded as obsolete and crude. I believe that only one example survives today in a museum.