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The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (;
NATO reporting name NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...
: Fishbed) is a
supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
jet fighter and
interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are c ...
, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Its nicknames include: "''Balalaika''", because its planform resembles the
stringed musical instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play so ...
of the same name; "''Ołówek''", Polish for "pencil", due to the shape of its
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
, and "''Én Bạc''", meaning "silver
swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...
", in Vietnamese. Approximately 60 countries across four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations seven 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 The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
and, previously, the longest production run of any combat aircraft.


Development


Origins

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 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft. It was the first Soviet production aircraft capable of supersonic speeds in level flight. A comparable U.S. " Cen ...
. A number of experimental
Mach The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a Boundary (thermodynamic), boundary to the local speed of sound. It is named after the Austrian physi ...
2 Soviet designs were based on nose intakes with either swept-back wings, such as the
Sukhoi Su-7 The Sukhoi Su-7 ( NATO designation name: Fitter-A) is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On the ...
, or tailed
deltas A river delta is a landform, wikt:archetype#Noun, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition (geology), deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or ...
, 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 A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. 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 the
delta wings A delta wing is a wing shaped in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta (Δ). Although long studied, the delta wing did not find significant practical applications until the Jet Age, w ...
found on production variants was the Ye-4. It made its maiden flight on 16 June 1955 and 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

The MiG-21 was the first successful Soviet aircraft combining fighter and
interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Interceptor'', a British drama series on BBC One * Interceptor (game show), ''Interceptor'' (game show), a British television game show that ran during 1989 * Interc ...
characteristics in a single aircraft. It was a lightweight fighter, achieving Mach 2 with a relatively low-powered
afterburning An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military aircraft, military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, ta ...
turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
, and is thus comparable to the American
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic interceptor. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the " Century Series" of fighter aircraft for the United States Air Force (USAF), it was developed into an ...
and Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter and the French Dassault Mirage III. Its basic layout was used for numerous other Soviet designs; delta-winged aircraft included the
Su-9 The Sukhoi Su-9 (Air Standardization Coordinating Committee, ASCC reporting name: Fishpot) is a single-engine, all-weather, missile-armed interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. Development The Su-9 emerged from aerodynamic studie ...
interceptor and fast Ye-150 prototype from the MiG bureau, while the successful mass-produced frontline fighter Su-7 and Mikoyan's
I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...
experimental interceptor combined a similar fuselage shape with swept-back wings. However, the characteristic layout with the
shock cone Inlet cones (sometimes called shock cones or inlet centerbodies) are a component of some Sound barrier, supersonic aircraft and missiles. They are primarily used on ramjets, such as the D-21 Tagboard and Lockheed X-7. Some turbojet aircraft inc ...
and front air intake did not see widespread use outside the USSR and ultimately proved to have limited development potential, mainly due to the small available space for the radar. Like many aircraft designed as interceptors, the MiG-21 had a short range. This was exacerbated by the poor placement of the internal fuel tanks ahead of the centre of gravity. As the internal fuel was consumed, the center of gravity would shift rearward beyond acceptable parameters. This had the effect of making the plane statically unstable to the point of being difficult to control, resulting in an endurance of only 45 minutes in clean condition. This can be somewhat countered by carrying fuel in external tanks closer to the center of gravity. The Chinese variants somewhat improved the internal fuel tank layout (as did the second generation of Soviet variants), and also carried significantly larger external fuel tanks to counter this issue. Additionally, when more than half the fuel was used up, violent maneuvers prevented fuel from flowing into the engine, thereby causing it to shut down in flight. This increased the risk of tank implosions (MiG-21 had tanks pressurized with air from the engine's compressor), a problem inherited from the MiG-15, MiG-17 and
MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft. It was the first Soviet production aircraft capable of supersonic speeds in level flight. A comparable U.S. " Cen ...
.Dunnigan, James F. ''How to Make War, A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Warfare in the 21st Century, Fourth Edition.'' Harper Collins Publishers Inc. 2003. 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 an increased range of 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. 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, not far short of the performance of the later F-16A. MiG-21's Tumansky R-25 jet engine's specialty was the addition of a second fuel pump in the afterburning stage. Activating the ЧР (rus. "чрезвычайный режим" - emergency mode)(Emergency Power Rating, EPR in India) booster feature allows the engine to develop 97.4 kilonewtons (21,896 lbf) of thrust under 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) of altitude. The rpm of the engine would increase by 2.5% and the compression ratio would thus increase, with a rise in exhaust temperature. The limit of operation is 2 minutes for both practice and actual wartime use, as further use causes the engine to overheat. The fuel consumption increased by 50% over the rate in full afterburner. Use of this temporary power gave the MiG-21bis slightly better than 1:1 thrust-to-weight ratio and a climbing rate of 254 meters/second, equalling the F-16's nominal capabilities in a close-quarters dogfight. The use of WEP thrust was limited to 2 minutes to reduce stress on the engines' 750 (250+250+250) flight hours lifetime since every second of super-afterburner counted as several minutes of regular power run due to extreme thermal stress. With WEP on, the MiG-21bis's R-25 engine produced a huge 10–12 meter long blowtorch exhaust, with six or seven brightly glowing rhomboid " shock diamonds" visible inside the exhaust. The Russians gave the emergency power setting its "diamond regime" name, which was never popularly used in India. 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.Král, Martin. ''Soviet Hammer,'' 6 April 2012. Retrieved: 28 June 2012. It was replaced by the newer variable-geometry
MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generation jet fighter, alongside similar Soviet aircra ...
and
MiG-27 The Mikoyan MiG-27 (; NATO reporting name: Flogger-D/J) is a variable-sweep ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union and later licence-produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics as t ...
for ground support duties. However, not until the
MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twinjet, twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the large ...
would the Soviet Union ultimately replace the MiG-21 as a maneuvering dogfighter to counter new American air superiority types. The MiG-21 was exported widely and remains in use. The aircraft's simple controls, engine, weapons, and avionics were typical of Soviet-era military designs. The use of a tail with the delta wing aids stability and control at the extremes of the flight envelope, enhancing safety for lower-skilled pilots; this, in turn, enhanced its marketability in exports to developing countries with limited training programs and restricted pilot pools. While technologically inferior to the more advanced fighters it often faced, low production and maintenance costs made it a favorite of nations buying
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
military hardware. Several Russian, Israeli and Romanian firms have begun to offer upgrade packages to MiG-21 operators, designed to bring the aircraft up to a modern standard, with greatly upgraded avionics and armaments.


Production

A total of 10,645 aircraft were built in the USSR. They were produced in three factories: AZ 30 (3,203 aircraft) in Moscow (also known as ''MMZ Znamya Truda''), GAZ 21 (5,765 aircraft) in Gorky, and TAZ 31 (1,678 aircraft) in
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
. Generally, Gorky built single-seaters for the Soviet forces. Moscow constructed single-seaters for export, and Tbilisi manufactured two-seaters both for export and the USSR, though there were exceptions. The MiG-21R and MiG-21bis for export and for the USSR were built in Gorky, 17 single-seaters were built in Tbilisi (MiG-21 and MiG-21F), the MiG-21MF was first constructed in Moscow and then Gorky, and the MiG-21U was built in Moscow as well as in Tbilisi. A total of 194 MiG-21F-13s were built under licence in
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. of India built 657 MiG-21FL, MiG-21M and MiG-21bis (of which 225 were bis)


Cost

Due to the mass production, the aircraft was very cheap: the MiG-21MF, for example, was cheaper than the
BMP-1 The BMP-1 is a Soviet Union, Soviet Amphibious vehicle, amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle that has been in service from 1966 to the present. BMP stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1'' (), meaning "infantry fighting vehicle, 1st ...
. The F-4 Phantom's cost was several times higher than MiG-21.


Design

The MiG-21 has a
delta wing A delta wing is a wing shaped in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta (letter), delta (Δ). Although long studied, the delta wing did not find significant practical applications unti ...
. The sweep angle on the
leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...
is 57° with a
TsAGI The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (also (Zhukovsky) Central Institute of Aerodynamics, , TsAGI) is a Russian national research centre for aviation. It was founded in Moscow by Russian aviation pioneer Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky on Decemb ...
S-12
airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...
. The angle of incidence is 0° while the dihedral angle is −2°. On the
trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...
there are
ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
with an area of 1.18 m2, and flaps with an area of 1.87 m2. In front of the ailerons there are small
wing fence A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...
s. The fuselage is
semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among o ...
with an elliptical profile and a maximum width of . The air flow to the engine is regulated by an inlet cone in the air intake. On early model MiG-21s, the cone has three positions. For speeds up to Mach 1.5, the cone is fully retracted to the maximum aft position. For speeds between Mach 1.5 and Mach 1.9, the cone moves to the middle position. For speeds higher than Mach 1.9, the cone moves to the maximum forward position. On the later model MiG-21PF, the intake cone moves to a position based on the actual speed. The cone position for a given speed is calculated by the UVD-2M system using air pressures from in front and behind the
compressor A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Many compressors can be staged, that is, the gas is compressed several times in steps o ...
of the engine. On both sides of the nose, there are gills to supply the engine with more air while on the ground and during
takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a tr ...
. In the first variant of the MiG-21, the
pitot tube A pitot tube ( ; also pitot probe) measures fluid flow velocity. It was invented by French engineer Henri Pitot during his work with aqueducts and published in 1732, and modified to its modern form in 1858 by Henry Darcy. It is widely use ...
is attached to the bottom of the nose. After the MiG-21P variant, this tube is attached to the top of the air intake. Later versions shifted the pitot tube attachment point 15 degrees to the right, as seen from the cockpit, and had an emergency pitot head on the right side, just ahead of the canopy and below the pilot's eyeline. The cabin is pressurized and air-conditioned. On variants prior to the MiG-21PFM, the cabin canopy is hinged at the front. When ejecting, the SK-1 ejection seat connects with the canopy to provide a windbreak from the high-speed airflow encountered during high-speed ejections. After ejection, the canopy opens to allow the pilot to parachute to the ground. However, ejecting at low altitudes can cause the canopy to take too long to separate, sometimes resulting in pilot death. The minimum height for ejection in level flight was 110 m. Starting with the MiG-21PFM, a new ejection seat proved to be very reliable and did not need the canopy to protect the pilot which had never been fully satisfactory. The canopy is hinged on the right side of the cockpit. On the underside of the aircraft, there are three air brakes, two at the front and one at the rear. The front air brakes have an area of 0.76 m2, and a deflection angle of 35°. The rear air brake has an area of 0.47 m2 and a deflection angle of 40°. The rear air brake is blocked if the airplane carries an external fuel tank. Behind the air brakes are the bays for the main
landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...
. On the underside of the airplane, just behind the trailing edge of the wing are attachment points for two
JATO JATO (acronym for jet-assisted take-off) is a type of assisted take-off for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets. The term ''JATO'' is used interchangeably with the (more specific ...
rockets. The front section of the fuselage ends at former #28. The rear section of the fuselage starts at former #28a and is removable for engine maintenance. The
empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...
of the MiG-21 consists of a
vertical stabilizer A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...
, a
stabilator A stabilator is a fully movable aircraft horizontal stabilizer (aircraft), stabilizer. It serves the usual functions of longitudinal stability, control and stick force requirements otherwise performed by the separate parts of a conventional hori ...
and a small fin on the bottom of the tail to improve yaw control. The vertical stabilizer has a sweep angle of 60° and an area of 5.32 m2 (on earlier version 3.8 m2) and a
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...
. The stabilator has a sweep angle of 57°, an area of 3.94 m2 and a span of 2.6 m. The MiG-21 uses a
tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...
-type undercarriage. On most variants, the main landing gear uses tires that are 800 mm in diameter and 200 mm in width. Only the MiG-21F variants use tires with the size 660×200 mm. The wheels of the main landing gear retract into the fuselage after rotating 87° and the shock absorbers retract into the wing. The nose gear retracts forward into the fuselage under the radar. The nose wheel can be lowered manually by simply unlocking its hatch from inside the cockpit. Thus, landing with undercarriage locked in the up position due to an internal failure was not a major issue, with a number of such successful landings on the nosewheel and ventral fuel tank or the airbrake.


Operational history


India


Overview

India is the largest operator of MiG-21s. In 1961, the
Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...
(IAF) opted to purchase the MiG-21 over several other Western competitors. As part of the deal, the Soviet Union offered India full transfer of technology and rights for local assembly.Mehrotra, Santosh. ''India and the Soviet Union: Trade and Technology Transfer.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990. . In 1964, the MiG-21 became the first supersonic fighter jet to enter service with the IAF. Due to limited induction numbers and lack of pilot training, the IAF MiG-21 played a limited role in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.Rakshak, Bharat
"The Canberra and the MiG-21."
Retrieved 1 December 2010.
However, the IAF gained valuable experience while operating the MiG-21 for defensive sorties during the war. The positive feedback from IAF pilots during the 1965 war prompted India to place more orders for the fighter jet and also invest heavily in building the MiG-21's maintenance infrastructure and pilot training programs. Since 1963, India inducted more than 1,200 MiG-21s into its air force. As of 2024, around 40 MiG-21s are known to be in operation with the IAF. At its peak, IAF operated 400 MiG-21s in 19 squadrons. In 2023, the IAF announced that it would replace its MiG-21 Bisons with indigenously built Tejas fighter jet. The Indian Air Force bid a ceremonial farewell to the MiG-21 in 2023 during the Air Force Day flypast held at Prayagraj. The event marked the aircraft's final public appearance in IAF colours, symbolising the end of an era for a platform that had served since 1963.


Safety record

The plane has been plagued by safety problems. Since 1970 more than 170 Indian pilots and 40 civilians have been killed in MiG-21 accidents, thus the unofficial nickname "flying coffin". Over half of the 840 aircraft built between 1966 and 1984 were lost to crashes. At least 14 MiG-21s crashed between 2010 and 2013.Taneja, Kabir
"The Trouble With India's MIG-21 Fighter Jets".
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', 8 August 2013.
Poor maintenance and quality of replacement parts has been considered to be a factor in this phenomenon. When in
afterburner An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat ...
, the engine operates very close to its surge line and the ingestion of even a small bird can lead to an engine surge/seizure and flame out.


Future

In view of the several incidents that have occurred after the 1999 Kargil War, the modernized MiG-21 Bison seems to have at present the role of an interceptor and possibly a limited role of a fighter aircraft. On 11 December 2013, India's second-generation supersonic jet fighter, MiG-21FL was decommissioned after being in service for 50 years. The Indian Air Force plans to decommission all MiG-21s by 2025.


1971 Indo-Pakistan War

The expansion of the IAF MiG-21 fleet marked a developing India-Soviet Union military partnership, which enabled India to field a formidable air force to counter Chinese and Pakistani threats.Till, Geoffrey. ''Globalisation and Defence in the Asia-Pacific.'' London: Taylor & Francis, 2008. . The capabilities of the MiG-21 were put to the test during the
Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...
. During the war, the MiG-21s played a crucial role in giving the IAF air superiority over vital points and areas in the western theater of the conflict. The 1971 war witnessed the first supersonic air combat in the
subcontinent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as in the case of A ...
when an Indian MiG-21FL claimed a PAF F-104A Starfighter with its GSh-23 twin-barrelled 23 mm cannon. By the time the hostilities came to an end, the IAF MiG-21FLs had claimed four PAF F-104As, two PAF Shenyang F-6Cs, one PAF North American F-86F Sabre and one PAF Lockheed C-130E Hercules. Only two kills were confirmed (both F-104As). Two more F-104s were critically damaged by MiG-21 fighters. Pakistan decommissioned all F-104s shortly after the end of the war. According to one Western military analyst, the MiG-21FLs had clearly "won" the much anticipated air combat between the MiG-21FL and the F-104A Starfighter.Coggins, Ed. ''Wings That Stay on.'' Nashville, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, 2000. . Because of the performance of India's MiG-21s, several nations, including
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, approached India for MiG-21 pilot training. By the early 1970s, more than 120 Iraqi pilots were being trained by the Indian Air Force.Cooper 2004 .


Kargil War

One MiG-21 was shot down by a Pakistani soldier using a shoulder-fired MANPADS missile during the Kargil war.


Other clashes

On 10 August 1999, two MiG-21FLs of the Indian Air Force intercepted and shot down a Pakistani Bréguet 1150 Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft with an R-60 missile after it allegedly entered Indian airspace for surveillance, killing all 16 on board. During the 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes, the
Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...
shot down an Indian MiG-21UPG Bison and captured its pilot. The MiG-21's debris had fallen in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. The pilot was later returned to India.


Indonesia

The
Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force (, sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF) is the Air force, aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Indonesian Air Force is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is headed by the Chief of Staff of th ...
purchased 22 MiG-21s. In 1962, 20 MiG-21F-13s and MiG-21Us were received during Operation Trikora in the Western New Guinea conflict. Indonesian MiG-21s never fought in any dogfights. Right after the U.S.-backed anti-communist forces took over the government, 13 Indonesian MiG-21s were delivered to the U.S. in exchange for T-33, UH-34D, and later, F-5 and OV-10 aircraft. All remaining MiG-21s were grounded and retired due to a lack of spare parts and the withdrawal of Soviet maintenance support. The MiGs were added to the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron ("Red Eagles"), a
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
aggressor squadron at Tonopah Test Range.


Vietnam

The MiG-21 was designed for very short
ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic wa ...
(GCI) missions. It became renowned for this type of mission in the skies over
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
. The first MiG-21s arrived directly from the Soviet Union by ship in April 1966. After being unloaded and assembled they were given to the
Vietnam People's Air Force The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF; ), officially the Air Defence - Air Force Service (ADAF Service; ) or the Vietnam Air Force (), is the Aerial warfare, aerial, Anti-aircraft warfare, air and Space warfare, space defence service branch of ...
's (VPAF) oldest fighter unit, the 921st Fighter Regiment (921st FR), which had been created on 3 February 1964 as a MiG-17 unit. Because the VPAF's 923rd FR was newer and less experienced, they continued to operate MiG-17s, while the arrival of the MiG-19s ( J-6 versions) from China in 1969 led to North Vietnam's only MiG-19 unit, the 925th FR. On 3 February 1972, North Vietnam commissioned its fourth and last fighter regiment created during the war with South Vietnam, the MiG-21PFM (Type 94)-equipped 927th FR. Former MiG-17 pilot Nguyen Nhat Chieu and his wingman Tran Ngoc Siu intercepted
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
F-105Ds while on
CAP A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...
duty over Phuc Yen Airbase (a.k.a. Noi Bai Airbase) on 7 July 1966, shooting down one piloted by Capt. Tomes with a salvo from Tran's UB-16-57/ S-5M unguided rocket-equipped MiG-21, while flight leader Nguyen was unable to establish a lock on another, wildly-evading F-105 with his R-3S AAM; this was the first instance of a VPAF MiG-21 shooting down a piloted enemy aircraft in the Vietnam War. Although 13 of North Vietnam's flying aces attained their status while flying the MiG-21 (cf. three in the MiG-17), many VPAF pilots preferred the MiG-17 because the high
wing loading In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total weight of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed, takeoff speed and landing speed of an aircraft are partly determined by its wing loading. The faster an airc ...
of the MiG-21 made it relatively less maneuverable and the lighter framed canopy of the MiG-17 gave better visibility. However, this is not the impression British author Roger Boniface got when he interviewed Pham Ngoc Lan and ace Nguyễn Nhật Chiêu (who scored victories flying both the MiG-17 and MiG-21). Pham Ngoc Lan told Boniface that "The MiG-21 was much faster, and it had two
Atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...
missiles which were very accurate and reliable when fired between 1,000 and 1,200 yards." And Chiêu asserted that "... for me personally, I preferred the MiG-21 because it was superior in all specifications in climb, speed and armament. The Atoll missile was very accurate and I scored four kills with the Atoll. ... In general combat conditions, I was always confident of a kill over an F-4 Phantom when flying a MiG-21." Although the MiG-21 lacked the long-range radar, missiles, and heavy bomb load of its contemporary multi-mission U.S. fighters, its RP-21 Sapfir radar helped make it a challenging adversary in the hands of experienced pilots, especially when used in high-speed hit-and-run attacks under GCI control. MiG-21 intercepts of
Republic F-105 Thunderchief The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War. It ...
strike groups were effective in downing US aircraft or forcing them to jettison their bomb loads.


Aerial combat victories 1966–1972

The VPAF flew their interceptors with guidance from ground controllers, who positioned the MiGs in ambush battle stations to make "one pass, then haul ass" attacks.Michel III pp. 42, 43 The MiGs made fast and often accurate attacks against US formations from several directions (usually the MiG-17s performed head-on attacks and the MiG-21s attacked from the rear). After shooting down a few American planes and forcing some of the F-105s to drop their bombs prematurely, the MiGs did not wait for retaliation but disengaged rapidly. These "guerrilla warfare in the air" tactics generally proved successful during the war. In December 1966, the MiG-21 pilots of the 921st FR downed 14 F-105 Thunderchiefs without any losses. The USAF and the US Navy had high expectations of the F-4 Phantom, assuming that their massive firepower, best available on-board radar, highest speed and acceleration properties, coupled with new tactics, would provide an advantage over the MiGs. But in confrontations with the lighter MiG-21, F-4s began to suffer losses. From May to December 1966, the USAF lost 47 aircraft, destroying only 12 VPAF fighters in return. From April 1965 to November 1968, over 268 air battles occurred over the skies of North Vietnam. North Vietnam claimed 244 downed U.S. aircraft while admitting to the loss of 85 MiGs. Of 46 air battles between F-4s and MiG-21s, losses amounted to 27 F-4 Phantoms and 20 MiG-21s. After a million sorties and nearly 1,000 US aircraft losses,
Operation Rolling Thunder Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) against North Vietnam from 2 ...
came to an end on 1 November 1968. A poor air-to-air combat loss-exchange ratio against the smaller, more agile enemy MiGs during the early part of the war eventually led the US Navy to create their Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as "
TOPGUN The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (SFTI program), more popularly known as Top Gun (stylized as TOPGUN), is a United States Navy Military education and training, training program that teaches Air combat manoeuvr ...
", at Naval Air Station Miramar,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, on 3 March 1969. The USAF quickly followed with its own version, called the Dissimilar Air Combat Training (sometimes referred to as Red Flag) program at
Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloquialism, colloq.) is a United States Air Force military installation, installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts Aerial warfare, air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exerc ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
. These two programs employed the subsonic Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and supersonic F-5 Tiger II, as well as the Mach 2.4-capable USAF
Convair F-106 Delta Dart The Convair F-106 Delta Dart is an all-weather interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair. The F-106 was designed in response to the 1954 interceptor program. Envisioned as an imagined "Ultimate I ...
, to mimic the MiG-21. The culmination of the air struggle over Vietnam in early 1972 was 10 May, when VPAF aircraft completed 64 sorties, resulting in 15 air battles. The VPAF claimed 7 F-4s were shot down (the U.S. confirmed five F-4s were lost.) The F-4s, in turn, managed to destroy two MiG-21s, three MiG-17s and one MiG-19. On 11 May, two MiG-21s, playing the "bait", brought four F-4s to 2 MiG-21s circling at low altitude. The MiGs quickly stormed the Phantoms and 3 missiles shot down two F-4s. On 13 May, a MiG-21 unit intercepted a group of F-4s and a second pair of MiGs made a missile attack before being hit by two F-4s. On 18 May, VPAF aircraft made 26 sorties, eight of which resulted in combat, downing four F-4s without any VPAF losses. Over the course of the air war, between 3 April 1965 and 8 January 1973, each side would ultimately claim favorable kill ratios. In 1972, the number of air battles between American and Vietnamese planes stood at 201. The VPAF lost 54 MiGs (including 36 MiG-21s and one MiG-21US) and claimed 90 U.S. aircraft shot down, including 74 F-4 fighters and two RF-4C reconnaissance jets (MiG-21s shot down 67 enemy aircraft while MiG-17s shot down 11 and MiG-19s downed another 12). One MiG-21 was shot down on 21 February 1972 by a USAF F-4 Phantom based at Udorn RTAFB,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
and piloted by Major Lodge with 1st Lt Roger Locher as his weapon systems officer (WSO). This was claimed as the first-ever USAF MiG kill at night, and the first in four years at that time. Two MiG-21s were claimed shot down by USAF
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...
tail gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or au ...
s; the only confirmed air-to-air kills ever made by the B-52. The first aerial victory was scored on 18 December 1972 by tail gunner Staff Sgt Samuel Turner, who was awarded the
Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...
. The second took place on 24 December 1972, when A1C Albert E. Moore downed a MiG-21 over the Thai Nguyen railroad yards. Both actions occurred during Operation Linebacker II, also known as the Christmas Bombings. These air-to-air kills were not confirmed by VPAF. The biggest threat to North Vietnam during the war had always been the
Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...
's B-52 bombers.
Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
's MiG-17 and MiG-19 interceptors could not deal with the B-52s at their flying altitude. In the summer of 1972, the VPAF was directed to train 12 MiG-21 pilots for the specific mission of shooting the B-52 bombers, with two-thirds of the pilots specifically trained in night attacks. On 26 December 1972, just two days after tail gunner Albert Moore downed a MiG-21, a VPAF MiG-21MF (number 5121) from the 921st Fighter Regiment, flown by Major
Phạm Tuân Phạm Tuân ( born 14 February 1947) is a retired Vietnam People's Air Force, Vietnamese Air Force fighter pilot and Astronaut#Cosmonaut, cosmonaut. He became the first Vietnamese people, Vietnamese cosmonaut, and the first person of Asian ori ...
over Hanoi, claimed the first aerial combat kill of a B-52.Toperczer #25 2001, p. 66. The B-52 had been above Hanoi at over when Major Tuân launched two Atoll missiles from 2 kilometres away and claimed to have destroyed one of the bombers flying in the three-plane formation. Other sources argue that the Atoll missiles failed to hit their mark, but as it was disengaging, a B-52 from a three-bomber cell in front of his target took a hit from a
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...
(SAM), exploding in mid-air: this may have caused Tuân to think his missiles destroyed the target he had been aiming for. The Vietnamese claimed another kill on 28 December 1972 by a MiG-21 from the 921st FR, this time flown by Vu Xuan Thieu. Thieu is said to have perished in the explosion of a B-52 hit by his own missiles, having approached the target too closely. In this case, the Vietnamese version appears to be erroneous: while one MiG-21 kill was claimed by Phantoms that night (this may have been Thieu's MiG), no B-52s were lost for any reason on the date of the claimed kill. ;Year-by-year kill claims involving MiG-21s * 1966: U.S. claimed six MiG-21s destroyed; North Vietnam claimed seven
F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bower ...
s and 11
F-105 Thunderchief The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War. It ...
s shot down by MiG-21s. * 1967: U.S. claimed 21 MiG-21s destroyed; North Vietnam claimed 17 F-105 Thunderchiefs, 11 F-4 Phantom IIs, two RF-101 Voodoos, one A-4 Skyhawk, one
Vought F-8 Crusader The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based Air superiority fighter, air superiority jet aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Vought. It was the ...
, one EB-66 Destroyer and three unidentified types shot down by MiG-21s. * 1968: U.S. claimed nine MiG-21s destroyed; North Vietnam claimed 17 US aircraft shot down by MiG-21s. * 1969: U.S. destroyed three MiG-21s; one
Ryan Firebee The Ryan Firebee is a series of target drones developed by the Ryan Aeronautical, Ryan Aeronautical Company beginning in 1951. It was one of the first Jet engine, jet-propelled drones, and remains one of the most widely used target drones ever b ...
UAV destroyed by a MiG-21. * 1970: U.S. destroyed two MiG-21s; North Vietnam claimed one F-4 Phantom and one CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter shot down by MiG-21s. * 1972: U.S. claimed 51 MiG-21s destroyed; North Vietnam claimed 53 US aircraft shot down by MiG-21s, including two
B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...
bombers. Soviet General Fesenko, the main Soviet adviser to the North Vietnamese Air Force in 1972,Toperczer #25 2001, p. 67. recorded 34 MiG-21s destroyed in 1972. According to VPAF, in 1972, they lost 29 MiG-21s, 5 MiG-19s and 16 MiG-17s in aircombat On 3 January 1968, a single MiG-21 pilot, Ha Van Chuc, entered battle with 36 American planes and claimed one F-105 Thunderchief. During the war, the VPAF claimed 103 F-4 Phantoms were shot down by MiG-21s, and that they lost 60 MiG-21s in air combat (54 by Phantoms). According to Russian data, the VPAF MiG-21s claimed 165 air victories, with the loss of 65 aircraft (including a few by accident or friendly fire) and 16 pilots. The losses of MiG-21 pilots were the lowest of all airplanes.


Arab–Israeli conflicts

The MiG-21 was also used extensively in Middle Eastern conflicts of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by the
Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) () is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all military aircraft, including those used in support of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy ...
,
Syrian Air Force The Syrian Air Force () is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It was established in 1948, and first saw action in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Under Ba'athist Syria until December 8, 2024, it was known as the Syrian Arab Air Forc ...
and Iraqi Air Force. The MiG-21 first encountered Israeli Mirage IIICJs on 14 November 1964, but it was not until 14 July 1966 that the first MiG-21 was shot down. Another six Syrian MiG-21s were shot down by Israeli Mirages on 7 April 1967. MiG-21s also faced
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bower ...
s and Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, but were later outclassed by the more modern McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...
, both acquired by Israel starting in the mid-1970s. During this period, Syrian pilots flying MiG-21s also independently discovered the
Cobra maneuver In aerobatics, the cobra maneuver (or just the ''cobra''), also called ''dynamic deceleration'', among other names , is a dramatic and demanding maneuver in which an airplane flying at a moderate speed abruptly raises its nose momentarily to a v ...
, which became a standard defensive maneuver under the name "zero speed maneuver" (Syrian: مناورة السرعة صفر). During the opening attacks of the 1967
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, the
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...
(IAF) struck Arab air forces in four attack waves. In the first wave, Israeli pilots claimed to have destroyed eight Egyptian aircraft in air-to-air combat, of which seven were MiG-21s; Egypt claimed five kills scored by MiG-21PFs. During the second wave, Israel claimed four more MiG-21s downed in air-to-air combat, with the third wave resulting claimed air victories over two Syrian and one Iraqi MiG-21. The fourth wave destroyed many more Syrian MiG-21s on the ground. Overall, Egypt lost around 100 out of about 110 MiG-21s they had, almost all on the ground; Syria lost 35 of its 60 MiG-21F-13s and MiG-21PFs in the air and on the ground. Between the end of the Six-Day War and the start of the
War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...
, IAF Mirage fighters scored six confirmed kills of Egyptian MiG-21s, and Egyptian MiG-21s scored two confirmed and three probable kills against Israeli aircraft. Between the end of the Six-Day War to the end of the War of Attrition, Israel claimed a total of 25 destroyed Syrian MiG-21s; the Syrians claimed three confirmed and four probable kills of Israel aircraft, although Israel denied these. High losses to Israeli aircraft and continuous bombing during the War of Attrition caused Egypt to ask the Soviet Union for help. In March 1970, Soviet pilots and SAM crews arrived with their equipment. On 13 April, during the air battle over the Red Sea coast, the Soviet MiG-21MFs, according to some data, shot down two Israeli F-4 fighters On 18 April, one Israeli scout RF-4E "Phantom" was damaged by a Soviet MiG-21MF. On 16 May, an Israeli aircraft was shot down in air combat, probably by a Soviet MiG-21. On 22 June 1970, a Soviet pilot flying a MiG-21MF shot down an Israeli A-4E. After that, several more successful intercepts were carried out by Soviet pilots and another Israeli A-4 was shot down on 25 June. In response, Israel planned an ambush, calling it Operation Rimon 20. On 30 July, Israeli F-4s lured Soviet MiG-21s into an area where they were ambushed by Israeli Mirages. Asher Snir, flying a Mirage IIICJ, destroyed a Soviet MiG-21;
Avihu Ben-Nun Avihu Ben-Nun (; born 24 December 1939) is a retired Israeli general who was the 11th commander of the Israeli Air Force between 1987 and 1992. Biography Ben-Nun enlisted in the Israeli Air Force in 1957 and became a fighter pilot. In 1963 he beg ...
and Aviam Sela, both piloting F-4Es, each got a kill, and an unidentified pilot in another Mirage scored a fourth kill against a Soviet-flown MiG-21; the IAF suffered only a damaged Mirage. Three Soviet pilots were killed and the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
was alarmed by the losses. Yet though it was a
morale Morale ( , ) is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value judgment of the willpower, ...
-boosting achievement, ''Rimon 20'' did not change the course of the war. After the operation, other IAF aircraft were lost to Soviet MiG-21s and SAMs. A week later, on 7 August, the Soviets responded by deploying more aircraft to Egypt and luring Israeli fighter jets into an ambush of their own, "Operation Kavkaz", downing two Israeli Mirage IIICJs. In all, during March and August 1970, Soviet MiG-21 pilots and SAM crews destroyed 21 Israeli aircraft (eight by SA-3 missile systems and 13 by MiG-21s) at a cost of 5 MiG-21s shot down by the IAF, helping to convince the Israelis to sign a
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
. In September 1973, a large air battle erupted between Syria and Israel; Israel claimed a total of 12 Syrian MiG-21s destroyed, while Syria claimed eight kills scored by MiG-21s and admitted five losses. During the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...
, Israel claimed 73 kills against Egyptian MiG-21s (65 confirmed). Egypt claimed 27 confirmed kills and eight probables against Israeli aircraft by its MiG-21s. However, according to most Israeli sources, these were exaggerated claims, as Israeli air-to-air combat losses for the entire war did not exceed fifteen.Pollack 2004, p. 124. On the Syrian front, 6 October 1973 saw a flight of Syrian MiG-21MFs shoot down an Israeli A-4E and Mirage IIICJ, losing three of their own to Israeli IAI Neshers. On 7 October, Syrian MiG-21MFs downed two Israeli F-4Es, three Mirage IIICJs and an A-4E while losing two of their MiGs to Neshers and one to an F-4E, as well as two to friendly SAM fire. Iraqi MiG-21PFs also operated on this front, and on that same day destroyed two A-4Es while losing one MiG. On 8 October 1973, Syrian MiG-21PFMs downed three F-4Es, but six of their MiG-21s were lost. By the end of the war, Syrian MiG-21s claimed a total of 30 confirmed kills against Israeli aircraft; 29 MiG-21s were claimed (26 confirmed) as destroyed by the IDF. Later on 26 April 1974, an unusual occurrence involving
Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
fighter pilot Flight Lieutenant Sattar Alvi took place while he was on deputation to the No. 67A Squadron of the Syrian Air Force. Alvi, flying a Syrian MiG-21F-13 (Serial No. 1863) out of Syria's Al-Dumayr Air Base with a fellow PAF pilot, was on aerial patrol near the
Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...
when he spotted two Israeli Mirage-IIICJs intruding in Syrian airspace. According to modern Pakistani sources, Alvi and his flight leader engaged them, and after a brief dogfight, shot down one of the Mirages, flown by Captain M. Lutz. The Israeli pilot later succumbed to wounds he sustained during ejection. However, no major sources from the time reported on such an incident, and there is no mention of "Captain Lutz" in Israel's Ministry of Defense's record of Israel's casualties of war. Between the end of the Yom Kippur War and the start of the
1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...
, Israel received modern F-15s and F-16s which were far superior to the old Syrian MiG-21MFs. According to the IDF, these new aircraft shot down 24 Syrian MiG-21s over this period, though Syria did claim five IAF kills by MiG-21s armed with outdated K-13 missiles; Israel denied that it had suffered any losses. The 1982 Lebanon War began on 6 June 1982, and during the conflict the IAF claimed to have destroyed about 45 Syrian MiG-21MFs. Syria confirmed the loss of 37 MiG-21s, including 24 MiG-21bis and 10 MiG-21MF downed and 2 MiG-21bis and 1 MiG-21MF written off Syria claimed two confirmed and 15 probable kills of Israeli aircraft. Two Israeli F-15s and one F-4 were damaged in combat with MiG-21s."Syrian Air-to-Air Victories since 1948."
''ACIG''. Retrieved: 25 August 2013.
In the largest air battle since the Korean War, one Israeli F-15 was heavily damaged by a Syrian MiG-21 firing a R-60 (missile), but was able to make back to base for repairs.


Syrian civil war

Beginning in July 2012, at which point the Syrian civil war had lasted a year without aerial action, the
Syrian Air Force The Syrian Air Force () is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It was established in 1948, and first saw action in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Under Ba'athist Syria until December 8, 2024, it was known as the Syrian Arab Air Forc ...
started operations against Syrian insurgents. MiG-21s were among the first combat-ready aircraft used in bombings, rocket attacks and strafing runs, with numerous videos showing the attacks. The rebels had access to
heavy machine gun A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...
s, different anti-aircraft guns and Russian and Chinese MANPADS, up to modern designs such as the
FN-6 FN-6 (; NATO reporting name: CH-SA-10) is a third-generation passive infrared homing (IR) man portable air defence system (MANPADS) built by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation ...
. The first loss of a MiG-21 during the Syrian civil war was recorded on 30 August 2012. The MiG, registration number 2271, was likely downed by heavy machine gun fire on takeoff or landing at Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase, under siege by rebels. A few days later, on 4 September 2012, another MiG-21 (registration number 2280) was shot down in similar circumstances at the same base, also likely on takeoff or landing by rebels using by KPV 14.5 mm machine guns; the downing was recorded on video. On 10 November 2014, Syrian Air Force MiG-21bis number 2204 was shot down, and its pilot killed, by rebels either using a MANPADS or antiaircraft guns, near the town of Sabburah, 45 km east of
Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...
Airbase where it was likely based. Video and photo evidence of the crash site later emerged. Four months after a MiG-23 was shot down and during which time the Syrian Air Force suffered no losses from enemy fire, one of its MiG-21s was shot down on 12 March 2016 by the Jaysh al-Nasr faction over
Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...
near Kafr Nabudah. While the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (also known as SOHR; ), founded in May 2006, is a United Kingdom-based information office whose stated aim is to document human rights abuses in Syria; since 2011 it has focused on the Syrian Civil War. ...
, as suggested by video evidence, reported that the warplane had been downed by two MANPADS, Jaysh al-Nasr militants claimed to have shot it down with anti-aircraft guns. The pilot appeared to have bailed out of the stricken MiG, but died from ground fire or other causes. On 4 March 2017, a Syrian MiG-21bis from No. 679 squadron, operating out of Hama Airbase and piloted by Col. Mohammad Sawfan, was shot down by Ahrar al-Sham rebels, crashing in Turkish territory near the border. Col. Sawfan successfully ejected but was arrested and taken to a hospital in
Antakya Antakya (), Turkish form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is . Prior to the devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, 2023 earthquakes, its population was recorded ...
, Turkey. A recording between the pilot and ground controller clearly showed Sawfan's disorientation due to a malfunctioning compass, followed by a failure of the entire navigation system. He could not find his way back to base as ordered and inadvertently flew within range of rebel anti-aircraft guns. After being suspended for a number of years, Sawfan was allowed to return to service.


Libyan–Egyptian War

Egypt received American Sidewinder missiles, fitting them to their MiG-21s and successfully using them in combat against Libyan Mirages and MiG-23s during the brief Egyptian–Libyan War of July 1977.


Iran–Iraq War

During the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
, 23 Iraqi MiG-21s were shot down by Iranian F-14s, as confirmed by Iranian, Western and Iraqi sources and another 29 Iraqi MiG-21s were downed by F-4s. However, from 1980 to 1988, Iraqi MiG-21s shot down 43 Iranian fighter aircraft.


Libya


Libyan Civil War (2011)

Libyan MiG-21s saw limited service during the
2011 Libyan civil war The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...
. On 15 March 2011, one MiG-21bis and one MiG-21UM flown by defecting Libyan Air Force pilots flew from Ghardabiya Airbase near
Sirte Sirte (; , ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, almost right in the middle between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups and loyal ...
to Benina Airport to join the rebellion's Free Libyan Air Force. On 17 March 2011, the MiG-21UM experienced a technical fault and crashed after taking off from Benina.


Libyan Civil War (2014–2020)

In the Second Libyan Civil War (2014–2020), the
Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...
, under the command of
Khalifa Haftar Khalifa Haftar (; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). In 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the 2014 Libyan parliam ...
is loyal to the legislative body in
Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...
, which is the
Libyan House of Representatives Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbook ...
, internationally recognised until October 2015. It fights against the now internationally recognized
Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord (GNA; ) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. The agreement was unanimously endors ...
and the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries as well as Islamic State in Libya which are common enemies for both the
Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord (GNA; ) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. The agreement was unanimously endors ...
and the
Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...
. Both the
Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...
and the
Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord (GNA; ) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. The agreement was unanimously endors ...
field small airforces. As such, a number of former Libyan Arab Air Force (LARAF) MiG-21s were returned to service with the Tobruk-based
Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...
, thanks to spare parts and technical assistance from Egypt and Russia, while a number of former Egyptian Air Force MiG-21s were pressed into service as well. MiG-21s under the control of the Libyan
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
have been used extensively to bomb forces loyal to the rival
General National Congress The General National Congress or General National Council (GNC; ) was the Legislature, legislative authority of Libya for two years following the end of the First Libyan Civil War. It was elected by popular vote on 7 July 2012, and took power f ...
in
Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...
during the 2014 Libyan Civil War. On 29 August 2014, an LNA MiG-21bis, serial number 208, after a bombing mission over Derna, crashed in Bayda according to an official statement as a result of a technical failure of the plane, while Islamist Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries claimed it was shot down. The pilot did not eject and died in the crash. On 2 September 2014 an LNA MiG-21bis, serial number 800, crashed in a city block of
Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...
, due to pilot error during a pull-up maneuver. It is unclear whether the pilot had been on a bombing mission on the way to Derna, further East, or had been performing an aerial ceremony for the MiG-21 pilot who died a few days earlier. Part of the 2019 Western Libya offensive, on 9 April 2019, a
Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...
MiG-21 made a low altitude diving rocket attack, probably firing S-24 rockets on Mitiga airport in Tripoli, making limited damages to one of the runways. On 14 April 2019, a
Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...
MiG-21MF was shot down by a
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...
, probably a MANPADS fired by the forces of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) south of Tripoli. Video evidence confirmed the MiG-21 came under fire from anti-aircraft guns, small arms and two SAMs, one of which apparently hit the target. The pilot, Colonel Jamal Ben Amer ejected safely and recovered to LNA-held territory by a Mi-35 helicopter. LNA sources confirmed the loss but blamed a technical problem.


Horn of Africa

During the
Ogaden War The Ogaden War, also known as the Ethio-Somali War (, ), was a military conflict between Somali Democratic Republic, Somalia and derg, Ethiopia fought from July 1977 to March 1978 over control of the sovereignty of the Ogaden region. Somalia ...
of 1977–78,
Ethiopian Air Force The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during wa ...
F-5As engaged Somali Air Force MiG-21MFs in combat on several occasions. In one lopsided incident, two F-5As piloted by Israeli advisers or mercenaries engaged four MiG-21MFs. The MiGs were handled incompetently by the Somali pilots, and the F-5As destroyed two while the surviving pilots collided with each other avoiding an AIM-9. Ethiopia claimed to have shot down 10 Somali MiG-21MFs; while Somalia also claimed to have destroyed several Ethiopian MiG-21MFs, three F-5Es, one
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
bomber and three
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...
s. Ethiopian MiG-21s were deployed largely in the ground attack role, and proved instrumental during the final offensive against Somali ground forces. Ethiopian pilots who had flown both the F-5E and the MiG-21 and received training in both the US and the USSR considered the F-5 to be the superior fighter because of its manoeuvrability at low to medium speeds, its superior instrumentation and the fact that it was far easier to fly, allowing the pilot to focus on combat rather than controlling his airplane.Cooper, Tom., "Wings over Ogaden, 2015, ch. 3 This effect was enhanced by the poor quality of pilot training provided by the Soviets, which provided limited flight time and focussed exclusively on taking off and landing, with no practical training in air combat.Cooper, Tom & Fontanellaz, Adrian, "Ethiopian-Eritrean Wars Volume 1, 2018, ch. 4


Angola

During
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
's long-running civil war, MiG-21s of the Cuban Air Force were frequently deployed to attack ground targets manned by rebel forces or engage
South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...
Mirage F1s conducting cross-border strikes. Most MiG-21 losses over Angola were attributed to accurate ground fire, such as an example downed by
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( MPLA) and the National Lib ...
(UNITA) insurgents near Luena with an American
FIM-92 Stinger The FIM-92 Stinger is an American man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters and drones as th ...
. Despite extensive losses to man-portable air-defense systems, MiG-21s were instrumental during the
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was fought intermittently between 14 August 1987 and 23 March 1988, south and east of Cuito Cuanavale, Angola, by the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and Cuba against South Africa an ...
; Cuban pilots became accustomed to flying up to three sorties a day. Both the MiG-21MF and the MiG-21bis were deployed almost exclusively in the fighter/bomber role. As interceptors, they were somewhat unsuccessful due to their inability to detect low-flying South African aircraft. On 6 November 1981, a Mirage F1CZ achieved South Africa's first confirmed air-to-air kill since the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
when it destroyed Cuban Lieutenant Danacio Valdez's MiG-21MF with 30mm cannon fire. On 5 October 1982, Mirages escorting an
English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havilla ...
on routine reconnaissance over Cahama were engaged by at least two MiG-21bis. A South African radar operator picked up the attacking MiGs and was able to alert the Mirage pilots in advance, instructing them to change course immediately. As they jettisoned their auxiliary tanks, however, they were pinpointed by the Cubans, who opened pursuit. In a vicious
dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an air combat manoeuvring, aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requir ...
, SAAF Major John Rankin closed range and maneuvered into the MiGs' rear cones. From there, one of his two R.550 Magic missiles impacted directly behind the lead MiG and forced it down. The second aircraft, piloted by Lieutenant Raciel Marrero Rodriguez, could not detect the Mirage's proximity until it had entered his turn radius and was perforated by Rankin's autocannon. This damaged MiG-21 landed safely at Lubango. Contacts between MiG-21s and SAAF Mirage F1s or Mirage IIIs became increasingly common throughout the 1980s. Between 1984 and 1988, thirteen MiG-21s were lost over Angola. On 9 August 1984, a particularly catastrophic accident occurred when the 9th Fighter Training Squadrons and the 12th Fighter Squadrons of the Cuban Air Force attempted to carry out an exercise in poor weather. A single MiG-21bis and three MiG-23s were lost. On 14 December 1988, an Angolan Air Force MiG-21bis, serial number C340, strayed off course and being low on fuel executed an emergency landing on an open field in
South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...
, modern-day
Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
, where it was seized by local authorities. Since Angola did not request its return after the
South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...
, the MiG was restored by Atlas Aviation and until September 2017 it was displayed at Swartkops Air Force Base,
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
. The jet was returned to Angola, flying in an Angolan
Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. ...
cargo plane, as a sign of goodwill on 15 September 2017.


Democratic Republic of the Congo

The MiG-21MFs of the 25th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the National Air Force of Angola flew ground sorties during the
Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...
, sometimes being piloted by mercenaries. Some six MiG-21s were imported into the country during the
First Congo War The First Congo War, also known as Africa's First World War, was a Civil war, civil and international military conflict that lasted from 24 October 1996 to 16 May 1997, primarily taking place in Zaire (which was renamed the Democratic Republi ...
for the Congo Air Force, but do not appear to have seen operational service. (Cooper and Weinert, "African MiGs: Volume 1: Angola to Ivory Coast").


Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
purchased its first batch of MiG-21s in 1962 from the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. From 1962 to the early 1980s, Yugoslavia purchased 261 MiG-21s, of ten different variants. There were 41 MiG-21f-13, 36 MiG-21PfM, 25 MiG-21M, 6 MiG-21MF, 46 MiG-21bis, 45 MiG-21bisK, 12 MiG-21R, 18 MiG-21U, 25 MiG-21UM, and 7 MiG-21US. Yugoslav Air force units that operated MiG-21s were the 204th Fighter-Aviation Regiment at Batajnica Air Base (126th, 127th and 128th fighter-aviation squadrons), 117th fighter-aviation regiment at Željava Air Base (124th and 125th fighter-aviation squadron and 352nd recon squadron), 83rd fighter-aviation regiment at
Slatina Air Base Slatina Air Base (; ), located at Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari, contained the second largest military underground hangar complex (called Objekat Morava) in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, former Yugoslavia. After the ...
(123rd and 130th fighter aviation squadron), 185th fighter-bomber-aviation squadron (129th fighter-aviation squadron) at Pula and 129th training center at Batajnica air base. During the early stages of the 1990s'
Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
, the Yugoslav military used MiG-21s in a ground-attack role, while Croatian and Slovene forces did not yet have air forces at that point in the conflict. Aircraft from air bases in Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were relocated to air bases in Serbia. Detailed records show at least seven MiG-21s were shot down by AA defenses in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
and
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
."Avijacija bez granica" .
''avijacijabezgranica.com.'' Retrieved: 1 December 2010.
A MiG-21 piloted by Serbian Yugoslav Air Force pilot shot down an EC helicopter in 1992. Croatia acquired three MiG-21s in 1992 through defections by Croatian pilots serving with the JNA, two of which were lost in subsequent actions – one to Serbian air defenses, the other a friendly fire accident. In 1993, Croatia purchased about 40 MiG-21s in violation of an arms embargo, but only about 20 of these entered service, while the rest were used for spare parts. Croatia used them alongside the sole remaining defector for ground attack missions in operations Flash (during which one was lost) and
Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...
. The only air-to-air action for Croatian MiGs was an attempt by two of them to intercept
Soko J-22 Orao The Soko J-22 Orao ( sr-cyr, text=Oрао, translation=eagle) is a Yugoslavian/ Serbian twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioa ...
s of Republika Srpska's air force on a ground attack mission on 7 August 1995. After some maneuvering, both sides disengaged without firing. The remaining Yugoslav MiG-21s were flown to Serbia by 1992 and continued their service in the newly created Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the 1999
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...
, three MiG-21s were destroyed on the ground. The type continued to serve with the Serbian Air Force until 25 September 2020, when the country's last active MiG-21 crashed in the village of Brasina, near
Mali Zvornik Mali Zvornik ( sr-cyr, Мали Зворник, ) is a town and municipality located in the Mačva District of western Serbia. In 2022, the population of the town is 4,297, while the population of the municipality is 11,219. It lays on the Drina ri ...
, killing both pilots. The aircraft, a MiG-21UM that left the assembly line in December 1986, was the last MiG-21 ever produced in the Soviet Union.


Romania

In 1962,
Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) () is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five air bases, a logistics base, an air defense brigade, an air defense regiment and an ISR (Intel ...
(RoAF) received the first 12 MiG-21F-13, followed by another 12 of the same variant in 1963. Deliveries continued over the next years with other variants: 38 aircraft of MiG-21RFM (PF) variant in 1965, 7 MiG-21U-400/600 in 1965–1968, 56 MiG-21RFMM (PFM) in 1966–1968, 12 MiG-21R in 1968–1972, 68 MiG-21M plus 11 MiG-21US in 1969–1970, 74 MiG-21MF/MF-75 in 1972–1975, and 27 MiG-21UM in 1972–1980 plus another 5 of the same variant in 1990, for a total number of 322 aircraft. Beginning in 1993, Russia did not offer spare parts for the MiG-23 and MiG-29 for the RoAF. Initially, this was the context for the modernization of the Romanian MiG-21s with
Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international military technology company and defense contractor. Founded in 1966 by Elron, Elbit Systems is the primary provider of the Israeli military's land-based equipment and unmanned aerial v ...
, and because it was easier to maintain these fighter jets. In 1995–2002, a total of 111 MiG-21s were modernized, of which 71 were M and MF/MF-75 variants modernized under the LanceR A designation (for ground attack), 14 were UM variant as LanceR B designation (trainer), and another 26 MF/MF-75 variant were modernized under LanceR C designation (air superiority). Today, only 36 LanceRs are operational for the RoAF. It can use both Western and Eastern armament such as the R-60M, R-73, Magic 2, or Python III missiles. The MiG-21s are to be retired in 2024, after another two
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...
squadrons will be ready following the purchase of 32 more F-16s from
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The first F-16 squadron was completed in 2021 with the arrival of the last F-16 purchased from
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. Despite being one of the newest MiG-21 fleets in service, the Romanian MiG-21 LanceR fleet was grounded due to difficulties maintaining the aircraft, and since 1996 it has had an accident rate of over 30 per 100,000 hours. Serviceability rates below 50% are not uncommon. The Romanian Air Force has suffered numerous events in recent years with its arsenal of MiG-21s. On 12 June 2017, a MiG-21 crashed in
Constanța County Constanța () is a Counties of Romania, county (județ) of Romania on the Bulgaria–Romania border, border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2021, it had a population of 655,997 ...
, with Adrian Stancu, the pilot, managing to escape in time. On 7 July 2018, Florin Rotaru died during an airshow in Borcea with some 3,000 attendants while piloting a MiG-21 that suffered technical difficulties, choosing to deflect the plane and die to protect the attendants rather than ejecting himself in time. On 20 April 2021, during a training flight, a MiG-21 crashed in an uninhabited zone in
Mureș County Mureș County (, , ) is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative reor ...
. The pilot, Andrei Criste, managed to eject safely and survived the crash. On the March 2nd 2022, A MiG-21 LanceR crashed during adverse weather conditions near the village of Gura Dobrogei, Cogealac Commune. On 15 April 2022, the RoAF suspended all MiG-21 LanceR flights due to the high rate of accidents, and announced that it planned to speed up the acquisition of the ex-Norwegian F-16s. On 23 May, the LanceRs resumed flights for a period of one year, until 15 May 2023. On 15 May 2023, a retirement ceremony was held for the aircraft at the 71st Air Base, and at the 86th Air Base. From there, the MiG-21 took off to their final destination at the 95th Air Base.


Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Air Force received a total of 224 MiG-21 aircraft. From September 1963 the 19th Fighter Regiment of the Air Force received 12 MiG-21F-13s. Later some of these aircraft were converted for reconnaissance as MiG-21F-13Rs, which were submitted to the 26th Reconnaissance Regiment in 1988. In January 1965 the 18th Fighter Regiment received a squadron of 12 MiG-21PFs, some of which also were converted and used as reconnaissance aircraft (MiG-oboznachevnieto 21PFR). The 26 Regiment reconnaissance aircraft from this squadron were removed from service in 1991, the 15 Fighter Regiment in 1965 received another 12 MiG-21PF fighters and in 1977–1978 operated another 36 refurbished aircraft. This unit received two more aircraft in 1984 and operated them until 1992. For reconnaissance, a regiment received 26 specialized reconnaissance MiG-21Rs in 1962, and in 1969–1970, 19 Fighter Aviation Regiment received 15 MiG-21m aircraft, which operated in 21 Fighter Aviation Regiment and were removed from active service in 1990. An additional 12 MiG-21MF fighters were received in 1974–1975, with a reconnaissance version of the MiG-21MFR provided to the 26th Reconnaissance Regiment and used until 2000, when removed from active service. From 1983 to 1990, the Bulgaria Air Force received 72 MiG-21bis. Of these, 30 (six new and renovated) are under option with ACS and provided to the 19th Fighter Regiment; the rest are equipped with the "Lazur". This batch was taken out of service in 2000. Besides fighters, the Air Force has received 39 MiG-21U trainers (one in 1966), five MiG-21US in 1969–1970 and 27 MiG-21UM (new) during 1974–1980, another six refurbished ex-Soviet examples in 1990. In 1982, three MiG-21UM trainers were sold to Cambodia and in 1994 another 10 examples. MiG-21UMs were also sold to India. Other training aircraft were removed from active service in 2000. A total of 38 aircraft were lost in the period 1963–2000. The last flight of a Bulgarian Air Force MiG-21 took off from Graf Ignatievo Air Base on 31 December 2015. On 18 December 2015, there was an official ceremony for the retirement of the type from active duty.


Known MiG-21 aces

Several pilots have attained ace status (five or more aerial victories/kills) while flying the MiG-21. Nguyễn Văn Cốc of the VPAF, who scored nine kills in MiG-21s is regarded as the most successful."North Vietnamese Aces."
''AcePilots.com.'' Retrieved: 1 December 2010.
Twelve other VPAF pilots were credited with five or more aerial victories while flying the MiG-21: Phạm Thanh Ngân, Nguyễn Hồng Nhị and Mai Văn Cường (both eight kills); Đặng Ngọc Ngự (seven kills), Vũ Ngọc Đỉnh, Nguyễn Ngọc Độ, Nguyễn Nhật Chiêu,
Lê Thanh Đạo Lê Thanh Đạo (born 1944) is a former Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, MiG-21 pilot of the Vietnamese People's Air Force. He flew with the 921st and 927th fighter regiment and tied for fourth place amongst Vietnam War fighter aces with six kills. The ...
, Nguyễn Đăng Kỉnh, Nguyễn Đức Soát, and Nguyễn Tiến Sâm (six kills each), and Nguyễn Văn Nghĩa (five kills). Additionally, three
Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
pilots are known to have attained ace status while flying the MiG-21. Syrian airmen: M. Mansour ''acig.org.'' Retrieved: 1 December 2010. recorded five solo kills (with one additional probable), B. Hamshu scored five solo kills, and A. el-Gar tallied four solo and one shared kill, all three during the 1973–1974 engagements against Israel. Due to the incomplete nature of available records, there are several pilots who have unconfirmed aerial victories (probable kills), which when confirmed would award them "Ace" Status: S. A. Razak ''ACIG.''Retrieved: 1 December 2010. of the Iraqi Air Force with four known kills scored during the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
(until 1991; sometimes referred to as the Persian Gulf War), A. Wafai ''ACIG.'' Retrieved: 1 December 2010. of the Egyptian Air Force with four known kills against Israel.


Variants


Operators


Current operators

This list does not include operators of Chinese copies / licensed manufactured versions known as the Chengdu J-7/F-7. * ** National Air Force of Angola – 23 in service as of * ** Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force – 11 aircraft in service as of 2023. * **
Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...
– 36 in service as of November 2023. MiG-21FL version withdrawn December 2013, MiG-21PF (MiG-21FL or Type 77) withdrawn in January 2014. Upgraded MiG-21bis has already been retired by IAF. All remaining variants will be withdrawn by 2025. * ** Malian Air Force - 9 aircraft in service as of December 2023. * ** Mozambique Air Force – 8 aircraft, comprising 6 MiG-21bis and 2 MiG-21UM Trainers are in service as of 2023. * ** Korean People's Air Force - 26 in service as of 2023. * **
Sudanese Air Force The Sudanese Air Force () is the air force, aerial warfare branch of the Military of Sudan, Sudanese Armed Forces. It was established in 1956 following Sudan's independence earlier that year, and first saw action in the First Sudanese Civil War. ...
- 4 in service as of 2023. * ** Syrian Arab Air Force – 50 in service as of 2024. * ** Yemeni Air Force - 19 in service as of 2023.


Former operators

* ** Royal Afghan Air Force − 50 MiG-21F-13s and MiG-21Us ** Afghan Air Force − 46 MiG-21MFs and MiG-21UMs, and 40 MiG-21bis. Several were shot down or destroyed on the ground during the Second Afghan Civil War **
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
− About 20 MiG-21s in 2000, used in the ground attack role ** National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan − About 30 MiG-21s in 2000 * **
Algerian Air Force The Algerian Air Force (, ) is the aerial arm of the Algerian People's National Army. History The Algerian Air Force was created to support the fight of the People's National Army against the French occupying forces. It came as part of the ...
* **
Bangladesh Air Force The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) () is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The air force is primarily responsible for air defence of Bangladesh's sovereign territory as well as providing air support to the Bangladesh Army a ...
– 10 Mig-21MF's and 2 Mig-21UB's were donated to
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
in 1970s by
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Operated from 1973 and all retired in 2000s, replaced by F-7's. * ** Belarusian Air Force * ** Bulgarian Air Force * ** Burkina Faso Air Force * ** Royal Cambodian Air Force - 19 MiG-21bis and 3 MiG-21UM until all were retired in 2010. * ** Congolese Air Force – 14, in storage * ** Croatian Air Force – In November 2024, the last remaining MiG-21s (four fighters and two trainers) were retired. * ** Czechoslovak People's Air Force – passed on to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. * **
Czech Air Force The Czech Air Force () is the air force branch of the Army of the Czech Republic, Army of Czechia. Along with the Czech Land Forces, Land Forces, the Air Force is the major Czech military force. With traditions of military aviation dating back to ...
* **
Air Forces of the National People's Army The Air Forces of the National People's Army ( [], ) was the air force of East Germany. As with the , the , and the Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic, Border Troops, it was a military branch of the National People's Army (NVA). A ...
– passed on to Germany after reunification. * **
Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) () is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all military aircraft, including those used in support of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy ...
Hoyle ''Flight International'' 11–17 December 2012, p. 49. * ** Eritrean Air Force * **
Ethiopian Air Force The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during wa ...
* **
Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; ; ) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions. The Finnish Air ...
* ** Guinea-Bissau Air Force * **
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
* ** Georgian Air Force * ** Hungarian Air Force * **
Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force (, sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF) is the Air force, aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Indonesian Air Force is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is headed by the Chief of Staff of th ...
* ** Iranian Air Force – purchased 12 ex-East German MiG-21PFMs plus four MiG-21Us for training purposes. However, only two MiG-21Us were delivered, the others being embargoed after German reunification currently have 17
Chengdu J-7 The Chengdu J-7 (wikt:歼, Chinese: 歼-7; third generation export version F-7; NATO reporting name: Fishcan) is a People's Republic of China, Chinese fighter aircraft. It is a licensed production, license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gur ...
for training purposes. * ** Iraqi Air Force – operated during
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's Era. * **
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...
– acquired as part of Operation Diamond. Currently in Israeli Air Force Museum * **
Military of ISIL A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
– captured 19 (1 operational). Originally three in operational condition. The
Syrian Air Force The Syrian Air Force () is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It was established in 1948, and first saw action in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Under Ba'athist Syria until December 8, 2024, it was known as the Syrian Arab Air Forc ...
claimed to have shot down two of them. Other airframes are in various states of disrepair and some of them were being overhauled at the time of their capture. * ** Kyrgyzstan Air and Air Defence Force * ** Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force * ** Malagasy Air Force * **
Mongolian Air Force The Mongolian Air Force () is the air force service branch of the Mongolian Armed Forces . History Early years and WWII On 25 May 1925, a Junkers F.13 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel D. Shatarragchaa entered service as the first aircraft in Mo ...
* ** Namibian Air ForcePALOQUE ''The MiG 21 The Mikoyan-Gurevitch Fishbed (1955–2010)'' December 2009, p. 69. * **
Nigerian Air Force The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is the air branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the youngest branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces, established four years after the nation became independent. As at 2021, the air force is one of the largest in A ...
* **
People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...
– replaced by the
Chengdu J-7 The Chengdu J-7 (wikt:歼, Chinese: 歼-7; third generation export version F-7; NATO reporting name: Fishcan) is a People's Republic of China, Chinese fighter aircraft. It is a licensed production, license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gur ...
, a license-built version of the MiG-21. In addition to MiG-21F-13s supplied by the Soviet Union, China also traded a small amount of MiG-21MFs with J-7 export variations, then developed the J-7C/D variants based on the MiG-21MF. The deal was between China and a certain Middle Eastern country."China Mig-21MF Trade."
''AirForceWorld.com.'' Retrieveda; 5 November 2011.
In May 2013, an official publication from Chengdu Aircraft Corporation reported that J-7 production had ceased after decades of manufacturing variations of this Chinese-made MiG-21.
''AirForceWorld.com.'' Retrieveda; 3 June 2013.
* **
Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force () is the aerial warfare Military branch, branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 26,000 military personnel an ...
** Polish Naval Aviation * **
Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) () is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five air bases, a logistics base, an air defense brigade, an air defense regiment and an ISR (Intel ...
– officially retired on 15 May 2023 * **
Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...
* ** Serbian Air Force and Air Defence – retired from service in May 2021.Replaced by MiG-29SM+. * ** Air Force of Serbia and Montenegro – passed on to Serbia. * **
Slovak Air Force The Slovak Air Force, known since 2002 as the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic (), is the aviation and air defense branch of the Military of Slovakia, Slovak Armed Forces. Operating 15 aircraft and 18 helicopters fro ...
– in 1993, with the dissolution of
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, the Slovak Air Force obtained 13 MiG-21MAs, 36 MiG-21MFs, eight MiG-21Rs, two MiG-21USs and 11 MiG-21UMs. They were withdrawn in 2003. Some were put on display and placed in museums across the country; others were scrapped. * ** Somali Air Force * – passed to successor states after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
. **
Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...
** Soviet Air Defence Force **
Soviet Naval Aviation Soviet Naval Aviation (AV-MF, ) was the naval aviation arm of the Soviet Navy. Origins The first naval aviation units in Russia were formed in 1912–1914 as a part of the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet. During World War I, the hydro ...
* ** Tanzanian Air Force * ** Turkmen Air Force * ** Ugandan Air Force * – retired from
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
after evaluation flights under " Have Doughnut" and aggressor squadron duty. * **
Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...
* **
Vietnam People's Air Force The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF; ), officially the Air Defence - Air Force Service (ADAF Service; ) or the Vietnam Air Force (), is the Aerial warfare, aerial, Anti-aircraft warfare, air and Space warfare, space defence service branch of ...
– retired from service in November 2015, put in temporary storage while the
Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
searches for a replacement, possibly the
Sukhoi Su-35 The Sukhoi Su-35 (-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E/M, occasionally nicknamed "Super Flanker") is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Sukhoi Su-27, Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twinjet, twin-engine, super ...
or even the American
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...
. * **
Yugoslav Air Force The Air Force and Air Defence ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana ; abbr. sh-Cyrl-Latn, label=none, separator=/, РВ и ПВ� ...
– passed on to
Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
. * – four were sold to the Zairean government by Yugoslavia but never flew. * ** Zambian Air ForceHoyle ''Flight International'' 4–10 December 2018, p. 60.


Civilian operators

According to the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there were 44 privately owned MiG-21s in the U.S. in 2012 By 2013, Draken International had acquired 30 MiG-21bis/UM aircraft, mostly from Poland. In 2017, it operated 30 MiGs.


Use as suborbital space launch platform

In 2012, Premier Space Systems in Hillsboro, Oregon, US, conducted flight tests for NanoLaunch, a project to launch suborbital
sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...
s from MiG-21s flying over the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
."Vintage fighters return as launch platforms."
''citizensinspace.org,'' March 2012. Retrieved: 13 September 2012.
The company was dissolved in 2018


Aircraft on display

* MiG-21PF at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is ...
in Dayton, Ohio. * MiG-21PF at the Commemorative Air Force Museum in Mesa, Arizona. * MiG-21bis at the
San Diego Air & Space Museum The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California. It is located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building (San Diego), Ford Building, which is li ...
in San Diego, California. * MiG-21F-13 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. * MiG-21F-13 at
Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloquialism, colloq.) is a United States Air Force military installation, installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts Aerial warfare, air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exerc ...
in North Las Vegas,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
.


Specifications (MiG-21bis)


See also


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* Anderton, David A. ''North American F-100 Super Sabre.'' Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited, 1987. . * Boniface, Roger. ''Fighter Pilots of North Vietnam: An Account of their Combats 1965 to 1975.'' Gamlingay, Sandy, UK: Authors On Line, 2005. . * Cooper, Tom and Farzad Bishop. ''Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat (Osprey Combat Aircraft #49)''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004. . * * Davies, Steve. ''Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs.'' Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited, 2012. . * Eden, Paul. ''The Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft'', London: Amber Books, 2004. . * Gordon, Yefim. ''Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15: The Soviet Union's Long-Lived Korean War Fighter''. Hinckley, UK: Midland, 2001. . * Gordon, Yefim. ''Mikoyan MiG-21'' (Famous Russian aircraft). Hinckley, UK: Midland, 2008. . * Gordon, Yefim and Keith Dexter. ''Mikoyan MiG-21'' (Famous Russian Aircraft). London: Ian Allan Publishing, 2008. . * Herzog, Chaim. ''The War of Atonement.'' Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1975. . * Hobson, Chris. ''Vietnam Air Losses, United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps Fixed-Wing Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia 1961–1973.'' Midland Publishing, England; 2001. . * Hoyle, Craig. "World Air Forces Directory". ''
Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...
''. Vol. 180, No. 5321, 13–19 December 2011, pp. 26–52. . * Hoyle, Craig. "World Air Forces Directory". ''Flight International''. Vol. 182, No. 5321, 11–17 December 2012, pp. 40–64. . * Hoyle, Craig. "World Air Forces Directory". ''Flight International''. Vol. 194, No. 5665, 4–10 December 2018, pp. 32–60. . * * Michel III, Marshall L. ''Clashes; Air Combat Over North Vietnam 1965–1972.'' Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 2007, First edition 1997. . * Michel III, Marshall L. ''The 11 days of Christmas.'' New York: Encounter Books, 2002. . * * Nicolle, David and Tom Cooper. ''Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat (Osprey Combat Aircraft #44)''. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited, 2004. . * * Pollack, Kenneth M. ''Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991'' London: Bison Books, 2004. . * Toperczer, István. ''MiG-17 and MiG-19 Units of the Vietnam War (Osprey Combat Aircraft #25)''. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited, 2001. . * Toperczer, István. ''MiG-21 Units of the Vietnam War (Osprey Combat Aircraft, 29)''. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited 2001. . * Toperczer, Istvan, ''MiG Aces of the Vietnam War'', Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2015; . * Wilson, Stewart. ''Combat Aircraft since 1945''. Fyshwick, Australia: Aerospace Publications, 2000. . *


External links


MiG-21.de

MiG-21 Fishbed from Russian Military Analysis


{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21 MiG-021 1950s Soviet fighter aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft Delta-wing aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1955 Supersonic aircraft Second-generation jet fighters Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear