MiG-21 | |
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Croatian MiG-21BIS-D in flight | |
Role | Fighter and interceptor aircraft |
National origin | Soviet Union |
Design group | Mikoyan-Gurevich |
First flight | 16 June 1955 (Ye-4)[citation needed] |
Introduction | 1959 (MiG-21F) |
Status | In service |
Primary users | Soviet Air Forces (historical) Indian Air Force |
Produced | 1959–1985 |
Number built | 11,496[1] (10,645 produced in the USSR, 840 in India, 194 in Czechoslovakia) |
Variants | Chengdu J-7 |
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames include: "Balalaika", because its planform resembles the stringed musical instrument of the same name; "Ołówek", Polish for "pencil", due to the shape of its fuselage,[2] and "Én Bạc", meaning "silver swallow", 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 and, previously, the longest production run of any combat aircraft.