Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>MIG-21>HA0148
MIG-21MF "665" Brigada de Guardia "Playa Giron" 21° Regimento de Interceptión, Cuban Air Force, 1993
General Background
The Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21 is the world most widely used supersonic fighter which has been used by over 30 countries and 56 air forces. It is the most produced aircraft since World War II with an estimation of over 10,000 in the Soviet Union alone.
The Mig-21 has a top speed of Mach 2 and has proven to be an effective and easy to maintain aircraft in many conflicts. It first achieved renown in the Vietnam War where it posed itself a challenging adversary for more technological advanced aircrafts like the F-105 and F-4 Phantom. The Mig-21 is certainly one of the most famous aircrafts in the world for all times.
The Mig-21 has a top speed of Mach 2 and has proven to be an effective and easy to maintain aircraft in many conflicts. It first achieved renown in the Vietnam War where it posed itself a challenging adversary for more technological advanced aircrafts like the F-105 and F-4 Phantom. The Mig-21 is certainly one of the most famous aircrafts in the world for all times.
The Aircraft
On January 1, 1959 Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution Forces the Fuerza Aérea Revolucionara (Revolutionary Air Force) was formed. After the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 the name was changed to Air Defense Anti Revolutionary Armed Forces (DAAFAR) with a role to protect Cuban airspace and support the Cuban military. Cuban airspace is divided into 3 sectors with the Western Air Zone covered by the 2° Brigada de la Guardia "Playa Girón" ("Bay of Pigs" Guard Brigade). The USSR delivered 60 Mig-21MF aircraft to help the Cuban Air Force.
Specifications :
| Power Plant: | One 41.55kN (9,340lb st) or 64.73kN (14,550lb st) with afterburner Tumansky R-13-300 turbojet |
| Wingspan: | 7.15m (23ft 5 1/2in) |
| Length: | 15.76m (51ft 8 1/2in) - incl pitot boom |
| Max T-O weight: | 9,400kg (20,725lb) |
| Max speed: | Mach 2.1 (2,230km/h - 1,385mph) above 11,000m (36,000ft) |
| Mach 1.06 (1,300km/h - 807mph) at low level | |
| Range: | 1,100km (683 miles) - internal fuel only |
| 1,800km (1,118 miles) - with three external drop tanks, one under fuselage, one under each wing | |
| Armament: | One 23mm twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon with 200 rounds in belly pack |
| Various air-to-air and air-to-ground stores carried on four under wing pylons including: | |
| K-13A "Atoll" or "Advanced Atoll" a-a missiles, | |
| UV-16-57 rocket packs, | |
S-24 a-s rockets, |
|
250kg and 500kg bombs |
|
Eventually Sidewinder missiles |