Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames include: "balalaika", because its planform resembles the stringed musical instrument of the same name; "Ołówek", Polish for "pencil", due to the shape of its fuselage, and "Én Bạc", meaning "silver swallow", in Vietnamese.
| MiG-21 | |
|---|---|
| Croatian MiG-21BIS-D in flight | |
| Role | Fighter and interceptor aircraft |
| National origin | Soviet Union |
| Design group | Mikoyan-Gurevich |
| First flight | 16 June 1955 (Ye-4) |
| Introduction | 1959 (MiG-21F) |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | Soviet Air Forces (historical) Indian Air Force |
| Produced | 1959–1985 |
| Number built | 11,496 (10,645 produced in the USSR, 840 in India, 194 in Czechoslovakia) |
| Variants | Chengdu J-7 |
Approximately 60 countries across four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations six decades after its maiden flight. It set aviation records, becoming 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 any combat aircraft (now exceeded by both the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon).