Mikoyan Mig 21 & Mig 23 great for cleaning IS SCUM in Middle East
The
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (
Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21;
NATO reporting name:
Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter 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.[2]
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 a half-century after its maiden flight.
The fighter made aviation records. At least by name, it is the most-produced supersonic jet aircraft in aviation history and the most-produced combat aircraft since the
Korean War, and it had the longest production run of a combat aircraft (
1959 to
1985 over all variants).[1]
Development[edit]
Origins[edit]
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.
Development of what would become the MiG-21 began in the early
1950s, when Mikoyan
OKB finished a preliminary design study for a prototype designated Ye-1 in 1954. This project was very quickly reworked when it was determined that the planned engine was underpowered; the redesign led to the second prototype, the Ye-2. Both these and other early prototypes featured swept wings—the first prototype with delta wings as found on production variants was the Ye-4. The Ye-4 made its maiden flight on 16 June
1955 and made its first public appearance during the
Soviet Aviation Day display at
Moscow's
Tushino airfield in July
1956.
In the West, due to the lack of available information, early details of the MiG-21 often were confused with those of similar Soviet fighters of the era. In one instance,
Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1960–
1961 listed the "Fishbed" as a Sukhoi design and used an illustration of the
Su-9 'Fishpot'.
Design[edit]
Hungarian Air Force MiG-21bis on takeoff.
The MiG-21 was the first successful
Soviet aircraft combining fighter and interceptor characteristics in a single aircraft. It was a lightweight fighter, achieving Mach 2 with a relatively low-powered afterburning turbojet, and is thus comparable to the
American Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and
Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter and the
French Dassault Mirage III.[1] Its basic layout was used for numerous other Soviet designs; delta-winged aircraft included
Su-9 interceptor and the fast E-150 prototype from MiG bureau while the mass-produced successful front fighter
Su-7 and Mikoyan's I-75 experimental interceptor combined a similar fuselage shape with swept-back wings. However, the characteristic layout with the shock cone and front air intake did not see widespread use outside the
USSR and finally proved to have limited development potential, mainly because of the very small space available for the radar.
Like many aircraft designed as interceptors, the MiG-21 had a short range. This was not helped by the poor placement of the fuel tanks, which caused the airplane's center of gravity to shift rearwards once two-thirds of the fuel had been used.[citation needed] This had the effect of making the plane statically unstable to the
point of being uncontrollable, resulting in an endurance of only
45 minutes in clean condition. Additionally when more than half the fuel was used up, violent maneuveurs prevented fuel from flowing into the engine, thereby causing it to shutdown midflight.[3] The issue of the short endurance and low fuel capacity of the MiG-21F, PF,
PFM, S/SM and M/MF variants—though each had a somewhat greater fuel capacity than its predecessor—led to the development of the MT and
SMT variants. These had a range increase of 250 km (155 mi) compared to the MiG-21SM, but at the cost of worsening all other performance figures (such as a lower service ceiling and slower time to altitude).[1]
The delta wing, while excellent for a fast-climbing interceptor, meant any form of turning combat led to a rapid loss of speed. However, the light loading of the aircraft could mean that a climb rate of 235 m/s (46,250 ft/min) was possible with a combat-loaded MiG-21bis,[1] not far short of the performance of the later
F-16A. Given a skilled pilot and capable missiles, it could give a good account of itself against contemporary fighters. Its G-limits were increased from +7Gs in initial variants to +8.5Gs in the latest variants.[4] It was replaced by the newer variable-geometry MiG-23 and MiG-27 for ground support duties. However, not until the MiG-29 would the Soviet Union ultimately replace the MiG-21 as a