Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>MIG-21>HA0187

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 Aircraft

The MiG-21PFM is the most numerous version of the MiG-21 in the North Korean MiG-21 inventory. It is used by two regiments each with three squadrons. The MiG-21PFM has several improvements over earlier versions but still lacks many modern upgrades. The KPAF is considered to have approximately 200 of these aircraft which were delivered between 1968 and 1974 and again in 1985 along with some MiG-21MF. Also in their inventory are some MiG-29s and they are believed to be trying to acquire some Su-35s.

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