Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 21PF
Serial Number: 7105
Period:
Post-WWII
Collection Ref: X003-6783
Location: RAF Museum Cosford, National Cold War Exhibition
The MiG-21 was the first Soviet fighter
capable of flying faster than twice the
speed of sound and is an iconic aircraft
of the Cold War years. MiG-21s saw
extensive combat action in such diverse
conflicts as Vietnam, the Arab-Israeli
Wars, the Iran-Iraq War, Afghanistan
and Desert Storm.
This aircraft is typical of the early 'First Generation' variants of the MiG-21 'Fishbed' which was first designed as a simple, lightweight jet fighter, first flown as a pre-production prototype in 1957.
Following on from the initial MiG21F 'Fishbed-C' production variant, in 1960 the new MiG-21P variant (NATO reporting name 'Fishbed-D') dispensed with the original internal cannon armament completely in favour of air-air missiles or rocket pods and introduced a modified fuselage with a longer nose, and modified canopy and spine with a distinctive bulge immediately aft of the cockpit. This was followed in production from 1962 to 1964 by the MiG21PF, as seen here, with uprated afterburning engine and the pitot probe relocated to the top of the nose. This variant also introduced a new system for controlling the variable intake centrebody at the nose, whose larger intake accommodated new RP-21 search/track radar, giving all-weather capability. The MiG-21 PFM for the Soviet Air Force was produced between 1964 and 1965, and the Mig-21 PFS version was produced for export from 1966-68.
The MiG-21 is
capable of flying
faster than twice
the speed of
sound.
The MiG-21 was a small, agile, supersonic interceptor with good manoeuvrability but poor endurance.
