Mikoyan MiG-21
| MiG-21 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Croatian Air Force MiG-21 in flight | |
| Role | Fighter |
| National origin | Soviet Union |
| Design group | Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB |
| First flight | 14 February 1956 (Ye-2) |
| Introduction | 1959 (MiG-21F) |
| Status | In active service (see list) |
| Primary users |
Soviet Air Force (historical) Indian Air Force Russian Air Force |
| Produced | 1959 (MiG-21F) to 1985 (MiG-21bis) |
| Number built | 11,496 (10,645 produced in the USSR, 657 in India, 194 in Czechoslovakia) |
| Variants | Chengdu J-7 |
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter/interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "Balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek (English: pencil) by Polish pilots due to the shape of its fuselage.
Early versions are considered second-generation jet fighters, while later versions are considered to be third-generation jet fighters. Approximately 60 countries over four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations six decades after its maiden flight. It made aviation records, the most-produced supersonic jet aircraft in aviation history, the most-produced combat aircraft since the Korean War and previously the longest production run of a combat aircraft (now exceeded by both the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon).
The MiG-21 jet fighter was a continuation of Soviet jet fighters, starting with the subsonic MiG-15 and MiG-17, and the supersonic MiG-19. A number of experimental Mach 2 Soviet designs were based on nose intakes with either swept-back wings, such as the Sukhoi Su-7, or tailed deltas, of which the MiG-21 would be the most successful.
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