MiG-21 SMT Fishbed - 1/48 Eduard

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21

Croatian MiG-21BIS-D in flight
General information
Type Fighter and interceptor aircraft
National origin Soviet Union
Designer Mikoyan-Gurevich
Status In service
Primary users Soviet Air Forces (historical)
Indian Air Force
Number built 11,496[1]
(10,645 produced in the USSR, 840 in India, 194 in Czechoslovakia)
History
Manufactured 1959–1986
Introduction date 1959 (MiG-21F)
First flight 16 June 1955 (Ye-4)
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, 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.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.