The MiG-21 was developed back in 1955, and it still serves in some countries, writes TNI. This is a truly exemplary fighter. His track record arouses only respect and admiration, the author of the article emphasizes.
Brandon Weichert
The MiG-21 fighter, developed by the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau in 1955, embodied the engineering and military strategy of the Cold War.
This supersonic interceptor fighter served in more than 50 countries and was the most common military aircraft of its era. Despite its simplicity, the MiG-21 proved to be extremely effective, especially during the Vietnam War, where it proved to be a formidable opponent of American troops. His maneuverability and rate of climb, combined with a small cross-section providing increased stealth, earned him respect. The MiG-21 continued to serve in the air Forces of various countries even after production ceased in 1985 — including in Serbia during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s and India, which plans to decommission its fleet only by 2025. The durability and efficiency of the aircraft, even with the technological superiority of the opponents, only emphasize its outstanding role in the history of military aviation.
The legend of MiG-21 aviation: from the Soviet sky to the modern battlefield
The MiG-21 is a legendary fighter that served not only in the former Soviet Air Force, but also around the world. Developed in 1955 and adopted by the USSR Air Force in 1959, it was an advanced supersonic interceptor fighter at that time. Its development dates back to the beginning of the Cold War, when two world superpowers — the United States and the Soviet Union — spun in a deadly dance that could become nuclear at any moment throughout the second half of the twentieth century.
The MiG-21 is the epitome of the paranoia of Soviet military strategists and the uncertainty they felt throughout the 1950s about the capabilities of American rivals.
The Soviet design bureau of Mikoyan and Gurevich had just entered its heyday. The MiG-21 became perhaps the most common military aircraft of its time. But during the Soviet era, the MiG, in principle, won the laurels of a builder of legendary combat aircraft.
However, as a result, only Mikoyan remained from the tandem of designers. And by the collapse of the USSR, the design bureau had seen better times. But MiG remains a key link in the Russian defense sector to this day, although it has long been surpassed by Sukhoi Design Bureau, a long—time competitor since Soviet times.
MiG-21 and its track record
The MiG-21 is a truly exemplary fighter. Simple in design and understandable in purpose, it has served in more than 50 countries. The layout of the MiG-21 was also without any special frills.
Thanks to the only Tumansky engine with a thrust of almost 7,000 kilograms, the aircraft reached a speed of about Mach 2 and carried one and a half tons of ammunition. Because of the delta-shaped hull, the Russians called the fighter a “balalaika" by its resemblance to a stringed instrument.
For American pilots, it was the most frequent enemy throughout the Vietnam War. The MiG-21 fighters of the North Vietnamese Air Force turned out to be more maneuverable than their main American competitor, the F-4 (“Phantom"). During the war, MiG-21s shot down about 50 American aircraft, but the Americans also destroyed 68 MiG-21s.
Most likely, this is the result of the skill of American pilots and their superiority over North Vietnamese opponents, and not a reproach to the MiG-21 and its technical capabilities.
Over a long period of service, the MiG-21 was produced in various modifications. Some were single rooms, others were double rooms. Doug Richardson, in his 1985 book The Rising of the Red Star, quotes a Western test pilot who flew the MiG-21. He claims that “in the war he would have put exclusively on the MiG-21.” Such a controversial comment by a Western test pilot (most analysts treated most of the Soviet and then Russian technologies extremely disdainfully) is due to the high rate of elevation of the MiG-21, the small cross-section (this added to the aircraft's low visibility relative to competitors), as well as general maneuverability in combat.
Fighter production ceased in 1985, but the MiG-21 continued its legendary service. The Serbian Air Force used them in all the bloody wars in the Balkans in the 1990s (having inherited the air regiments from the Soviet Union).
The MiG-21 is still serving in the Indian Air Force
And the Indian Air Force has been operating the MiG-21 continuously since 1965, although it is gradually abandoning these systems in favor of more modern ones. Officially, the MiG-21 platform will be decommissioned only next year. This is a truly striking fact, given that India, as the largest democracy in the world and the fifth largest economy in the world, is constantly improving its armed forces. But this iron bird honestly worked out every last rupee.
The Indian version of the MiG-21F participated in the Bangladesh War between India and Pakistan in 1971 (then Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan). Precise strikes by the Indian Air Force on Pakistani military leaders in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, largely predetermined the course of the conflict and convinced Pakistanis to surrender. Thus, Bangladesh gained independence after the end of hostilities.
And more recently, in 2019, the Indian Air Force announced that one of their MiG-21 fighters destroyed a much more advanced Pakistani F-16 in combat, after which it was shot down itself. The Pakistani government has denied this claim, and the Indians have not provided irrefutable evidence. However, if this is true, then this is really fantastic, given that the F-16, even those modifications that serve in the Pakistani Air Force, is technologically significantly superior to the old MiG-21.
Only a few military aircraft can boast such survivability and such merits (for example, the B-52 Stratofortress of the US Air Force). The MiG-21 should not be underestimated or belittled for its merits — it has too great a track record, which causes nothing but respect and admiration.
Brandon Weichert is a national security analyst at The National Interest, a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst, author of articles in The Washington Times, Asia Times and The Pipeline and a number of books