On this day in aviation history, February 14, 1955, the first flight of a key progenitor that led to the MiG-21, the Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-2 took place. The Russian-designed Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (NATO reporting name: “Fishbed”) interceptor was an aircraft that challenged Western fighters in and out of combat from Germany to Vietnam, and even today, 71 years after its maiden flight, remains in service with several countries. It was produced in huge numbers, and holds the record for the biggest production run of a supersonic aircraft and the most produced jet fighter of all time.
The development of the MiG-21 was a continuation of the development of other jet fighters developed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) Design Bureau for the Soviet Air Force, such as the MiG-15, MiG-17, and MiG-19, the development of which was led by aircraft designer Anatoly Grigorievich Brunov. The original design of the new MiG fighter was initially a swept wing aircraft as opposed to the delta wing configuration, and the first concept was identified as the Ye-1, but the proposed engine was under powered. Mikoyan-Gurevich reworked the design to accept the Tumansky RD-9 (initially called the Mikulin AM-5), with the new aircraft design becoming the Ye-2. It would be the Ye-2 that ultimately became the progenitor of the MiG-21 series, and on February 14, 1955, the Ye-2 would make its first flight. NATO would give this aircraft the reporting name “Faceplate”.
Following the first flight of the Ye-2, Mikoyan-Gurevich developed the first delta-wing variant of the aircraft that would become the MiG-21, designating it the Ye 4. It made its maiden flight on June 16, 1955, which was followed six months later on January 9, 1956, by the first flights of the Ye-5, featuring a delta wing and a Tumansky R-11 engine and the Ye-50, a swept wing prototype powered by the RD-9 turbojet engine and the Dushkin S-155 liquid-fuel rocket engine for additional thrust. Finally, there was the R-11-powered Ye-2A prototype, which first took to the air on February 17, 1956.
While the development phase of Soviet military aircraft was a closely guarded secret, the USSR would relish presenting new aircraft to the public during the annual Soviet Aviation Day airshow, held at Tushino Airfield near Moscow, which was used as an opportunity not only for the Soviet military to reveal its latest aircraft to the Soviet people, but also enable the west to gain an idea of the latest soviet aviation developments. It was at the 1956 demonstration on June 24 that the wider world was introduced to the Ye-2, Y-4, and Ye-5 prototypes, which laid the groundwork for the aircraft that would become the USSR’s most advanced fighter of the 1950s.
The final pre-production prototypes built for flight tested were the Ye-6 (which first flew on May 20, 1958), and the Ye-7 (first flown on August 10, 1959). On October 31, 1959, Mikoyan-Gurevich’s chief test pilot, Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov, set a world speed record recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), averaging 2,388 kilometers per hour (1,483.8 miles per hour) over a 15-to-25-kilometer straight course in a prototype MiG-21. By the autumn of 1959, production on the first of the MiG-21 type began at the Sokol Aircraft Plant at Nizhny Novgorod, some 392 kilometers (243 miles) east of Moscow, and by March 1960, the first examples entered service with the Soviet Air Force. The MiG-21 would remain in production in the USSR until 1985.
By 1961, the MiG-21 “Fishbed” was the most capable fighter in operational service with the Soviet Union. But much like the Americans would widely export one of their Mach 2 interceptors, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, to various Allied countries, the MiG-21 would become one of the most widely exported Soviet fighters of the Cold War. The first export examples were sent to Czechoslovakia and Poland to serve as patterns for licensed production at local aircraft production facilities. Three complete examples plus 20 kits of MiG-21 parts were also exported to China, where the aircraft was copied to become the Chengdu J-7.
The 1960s would see the combat debut of the MiG-21. The Indian Air Force deployed its fleet of newly-acquired MiG-21s in limited combat during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, which led to an increase in orders from India for the export of more MiGs. Naming it the “Bison” they flew them extensively in combat next during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War and the Bangladesh Liberation War. Indian MiG-21s obtained at least two confirmed kills against Pakistani F-104 Starfighters and claims against two more F-104s, two Shenyang J-6s (Chinese-built MiG-19s), one F-86 Sabre, and one C-130 Hercules. After these conflicts, Indian MiG-21s were involved in further flare-ups with Pakistan, but were also used to train foreign pilots in the use of the MiG-21 through Indian Air Force flight instructors. Today, the Indian Air Force remains one of the prominent of the current operators of the MiG-21, though the IAF is in the process of replacing them with newer fighters, such the locally developed HAL Tejas (‘Radiance’) fighter.
Vietnam Tricks & Tactics
In the United States, the MiG-21 was synonymous with one particular conflict that heavily involved American pilots: the Vietnam War. When the first MiG-21s delivered by ship from the Soviet Union in April 1966, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 became the most advanced fighter in the Vietnamese People’s Air Force (VPAF). They were used to great effect against American aircraft such as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Republic F-105 Thunderchief, and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom. By December 1966, however, the North Vietnamese only had around 20 MiG-21s in total, which were largely reserved for the 921st Fighter Regiment (921st FR), the air force fielding a greater quantity of older MiG-17s, while also being often outnumbered in their own skies. Nevertheless, the North Vietnamese used dedicated specialist tactics: by picking up the radar frequencies and finding the air routes of the American aircraft, and the MiG-21 pilots employed hit-and-run tactics were the most effective strategy to engage American attack and bomber aircraft, either shooting the Americans down or forcing them to jettison their bombs early, and using their speed to break off when escorting F-4s were spotted.
There were times when the Americans gained the upper hand against the MiG-21. The most famous occasion was when Colonel Robin Olds of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing spoofed the North Vietnamese’s knowledge of radar-jamming frequencies used by F-105 Thunderchiefs by equipping his Phantoms with the radar-jamming pods. The North Vietnamese believing they were attacking bomb-laden F-105s, only to encounter F-4 Phantoms equipped with air-to-air missiles. Seven kills were claimed by the 8th TFW, while the VPAF later claimed to have lost five MiG-21s of the 921st FR.
Although North Vietnamese pilots often preferred the greater maneuverability of the older MiG-17 (NATO codename ‘Fresco’), the MiG-21 was still a deadly opponent for USAF, USN, and USMC aircraft in the skies over North Vietnam, especially those over the capital city of Hanoi. Indeed, several fighter pilots of the VPAF earned the title ace by flying the MiG-21, with the most successful among these being Nguyễn Văn Cốc, who scored nine victories against American aircraft during the Vietnam War.
After the 1973 Paris Peace Accords ended US involvement in the Vietnam War, followed by the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, the VPAF kept its MiG-21s in service, where the aircraft was nicknamed the “Én Bạc” (Silver Swallow), and were gradually replaced by Sukhoi Su-22s, Su-27s, and Su-30s, with the last MiG-21s being pulled from operational service by 2015, and many examples are on display in museums or war memorials in public parks across the country.
Arab World & Africa
The MiG-21 also saw extensive service in the Arab world, serving in the Egyptian, Iraqi, and Syrian air forces. While Israeli Air Force Mirage IIIs encountered MiG-21s in the air as early as November 14, 1964, the MiG-21 would face the brunt of the Israeli Air Force offensive during the Six Day War of 1967. While the Egyptian and Syrian Air Force MiG-21s engaged in combat with Israeli Mirages, a combination of surprise attacks on Egyptian and Syrian airbases and the air-to-air combat training of the Israeli Air Force led to devastating losses among the MiG-21 fleets. These losses were replaced with new variants not only through exports from the Soviet Union but also through licensed production in other communist states, such as the aforementioned Chendu J-7. The new MiG-21s, plus the few survivors of the Six Day War, saw further conflict against the Israeli Mirages during the War of Attrition (1967-1970), in which MiG-21s scored victories against Israeli F-4 Phantoms and Douglas A-4 Skyhawks but suffered their own losses in turn.
Perhaps the most notable insistence in which Arab MiG-21s faced off against Israeli fighters was during the Yom Kippur War (October 1973), in which Egyptian claims of air-to-air victories were declared by the Israelis to be exaggerated, with the majority of the IAF’s losses during the conflict being due in large part to ground air defense systems. Still, the MiG-21s of the Egyptian and Syrian air forces would fight in the desert skies against IAF Mirages, Skyhawks, Phantoms, and the IAI Nesher, an Israeli development of the Dassault Mirage 5.
The MiG-21 “Fishbed” would also see further combat throughout the course of the Cold War. During the Angolan Civil War, Fidel Castro sent Cuban soldiers to support the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (the Portuguese acronym being MPLA) in their effort to take control of the former Portuguese colony. Among the servicemen from Cuban were MiG-21 pilots, who trained Angolan pilots in the use of the MiGs, and these aircraft would fly close-air support missions and cross-border bombing raids against the forces of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), who were, in turn, supported by South Africa.
In addition to ground-support missions, the MiG-21s over Angola clashed with South African Air Force (SAAF) Mirage fighters and English Electric Canberra bombers. One notable incident during the war involving a MiG-21 occurred on December 14, 1988, when an Angolan Air Force MiG-21bis (serial number C340) flew off course and made an emergency landing on an open field in South African territory of South West Africa (modern-day Namibia) after running low on fuel. Captured by local authorities, the aircraft was brought to South Africa and displayed at the South African Air Force Museum at Swartkop Air Force Base, Pretoria. The aircraft was returned to Angola on September 15, 2017, in the cargo hold of an Angolan Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 military transport.
Other areas of conflict in which the MiG-21s would see combat would be the Ogaden War (1977-1978), fought between Ethiopia and Somalia (which both flew MiG-21s), the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), where the Iraqi Air Force flew its MiG-21s against Iran, the 1982 Lebanon War in which Syrian MiG-21s proved no match for Israeli Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons. In Europe, the largest conflicts involving the “Fishbed” were the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, with the former Yugoslav states of Serbia and Croatia using them primarily as strike fighters in ground attack roles, while new MiG fighters, such as the MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’ took over the air-to-air fighting.
Even in more recent conflicts in the Middle East, the old MiG-21 has seen in conflicts such as the First Libyan Civil War (2011) and the Second Libyan Civil War (2014-2020), as well as the ongoing Syrian Civil War, in which the 70+ year old fighters were used by the Syrian Air Force in strafing missions against insurgents. However, they suffered losses due to the militant groups securing access to anti-aircraft guns and man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS).
Diamond Donut MiGGiven the effectiveness with which the North Vietnamese Air Force used their small reserve of MiG-21s against the US Air Force and US Navy over Vietnam, the United States military wanted nothing more than to secure an airworthy example for flight evaluation. At the same time, the Israeli secret service, the Mossad, was attempting to entice an Arab MiG-21 pilot to defect while flying his MiG-21 through a mission they called “Operation Diamond”. They found their man in Munir Redfa, an Assyrian Chaldean Catholic pilot serving in the Iraqi Air Force. After coming into contact with Mossad, Redfa agreed to their offer of $1 million, Israeli citizenship, and full-time employment on the condition that Mossad help smuggle his family out of Iraq, which they agreed to do.
On August 16, 1966, Munir Redfa took off in his MiG-21, and once entering Israeli airspace via Jordan, landed at Hatzor Airbase, becoming the first MiG-21 pilot to fly to a Western-aligned country. His MiG-21 was called aircraft 007 and was shipped to the United States in 1967 as part of a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) project codenamed “Have Doughnut” (after the shape of the Fishbed’s intake). The aircraft was sent to Groom Lake (Area 51) in the Nevada desert and extensively tested.
Later on, the USAF negotiated with the Indonesian Air Force to trade its MiG-21s in exchange for Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighters, with the MiG-21s becoming part of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron at the Tonopah Test Range Area in Nevada.
Today, there are still MiG-21s listed as “in service” around the world. According to the 2025 World Air Force Directory published by Flight International, MiG-21s remain in the inventories of the following air forces: Angola (23), Cuba (11), India (36), Libya (12), Mali (9), Mozambique (8), North Korea (26), Sudan (4), Syria (50), Yemen (19). Of course, many of these are unlikely to be operational (or even airworthy).
The end of MiG-21 service from several air forces around the world in the last decade has made the news. Among these was the retirement of the last MiG-21s in operational service in Europe, with the 2023 retirement of Croatia’s last Fishbeds in favor of the Dassault Rafale.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc communist states, numerous surplus Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s were sold abroad to NATO countries to private collectors, where some were made part of museums while a few were even maintained in airworthy condition.
In addition to those still serving as active duty, many Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s have found themselves being exhibited in museums around the world, especially in both NATO countries and former Warsaw Pact countries or have been used as public monuments across the former Soviet Union.
While the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 may be a 70-year-old design that is slowly being phased from service, its legacy for being an advanced yet rugged fighter for its day is self-evident. It was one of the Soviet Union’s most widely successful jet interceptors, and even when the last examples are retired from operational service with the world’s air forces, there is still the likelihood that some will continue flying at airshows as private aircraft for years to come.
Today in Aviation History is a series highlighting the achievements, innovations, and milestones that have shaped the skies. All the previous anniversaries are available HERE
