Mikoyan Gurevich Mig-21 Fishbed (Warbird Tech 45)
By Yefim Gordon, Peter Davison
Publisher: Ian Allan 2007 104 Pages
ISBN: 1580071066
PDF 66 MB
The Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21, lightweight air combat fighter, is arguably the most famous military aircraft in the world. Though the Lockheed C-130 Hercules has served with more air forces, since World War II no other warplane has been manufactured in such large numbers (over 10,000 in the Soviet Union and about 2,000 in China and India), nor has any other fight-er ever served with so many air forces (the current count is 56).
The Mig-21 has a fairly short range and few weapons. The first series version had just two can-nons and enough ammunition for a two-second burst, while the next variant had two small missiles, but no gun. The Mig-21 was designed to climb fast to high altitudes, and excel in close combat at all alti-tudes. It had to be easy to main-tain, tough in the harshest envi-ronments, and affordable.