A little-appreciated feature from Soviet hi-tech: The appearance of a new MiG or Sukhoi every five years or so was enough to keep laundries running at capacity around the Pentagon, and provide work for skilled workers in aerospace towns. I grew up in a good economy, thanks to Russian designers scaring the bejeepers out of American defense planners. Thank you, Russia.
It's like they say: There's no bad news which doesn't result in an opportunity or good news of some sort. Even the infamous Black Death of the 14th century gave us the Renaissance and the birth of the modern period.
It's "Mikoyan i Gurevich", M&G you could say. "I" (like ee in see) means "and" in russian. "Mig" is also means "instant", "flash", "blink" or "moment". Good name for something that covers kilometers in blink of an eye.
The same philosophy as the design of the AK47. Simple stuff that works after a bath in mud. If you get dust in your precision German machine you will have a "storing". (Stooring = stoppage - Afrikaans)
I too have always been fascinated by Soviet military aircraft. During the Cold War, it was fun trying to figure out who was copying off who when it came to aircraft designs.
Beautiful jet. I wish I could fly one over a city or through the Grand Canyon. For those interested in such things these are my 3 favorite aviation art books: - Aviation Art of Lou Drendel by Lou Drendel - Grumman F-14 Tomcat by Dave Parsons - Great Fighter Jets of the Galaxy by Tim Gibson
Excellent documentary!!! I was to get out of my car and you made me watch the whole thing. If Russians would’ve been able to apply their tenacity and technological aspirations of their aviation industry to their car industry, I think Toyota and Honda would be #2 and # 3 in the reliability list and Porsche would try to catch up with a Lada or Volga...🙃🤣🙃🤣
I thought the same thing except I compared their fighter jets to their commercial airlines which frightened my friend (and many others) when she flew in one during a vacation many years ago.
Anyone know the name of the series? I remember watching it as a kid 25/30 years ago. It was great then. Communism can only make one thing properly. Propaganda posters which take a committee to design, a labour battalion to put up and which fall down in a way easy to blame on capitalists.
So glad for the differences in concept and design - more admirable, in my opinion, for the lack of resources, personal initiative and the overall atmosphere of life in the USSR - amazing, the achievements made by different minds with different perspectives 👍 Many thanks for providing this !
Energy fighting tactics were devised and used by the Soviets already in the Spanish Civil War. The MiG-3 was just inferior to the BF-109F at the attitudes that mattered and very few pilots had much expirience flying it.
There were many, many, many things that the soviet military got wrong at the start of Barbarossa that were more significant than the combat preparedness of the MiG-3 pilots. Besides, soviet air doctrine depended on close cooperation between the air and ground force, trying to make a plane that can tango with the 109s in the upper atmosphere doesn’t help cover the IL-2s working the deck.
If you look at the reports from the Russian communist party meetings in the 1930s, they already discuss how defense in depth is the best way to protect the European border. The huge encirclements weren't according to plan, but everything else sort of was.
Mig 29 my favorite aircraft growing up im 46 now its the b1b lancer a10 warthog so maybe ive said a lot about my tastes the way ive changed from mig 29 beautifully engineered sleek highly manoeuvrable iconic aircraft to the bone and the hog which are ugly beautiful and both are the most beautifully designed aircraft ever built because their design was not for looks but for purpose but the uglyness became a beauty , i could watch a lancer takeoff and land all day and i know all about the terrain hugging avionics and its low altitude ability and stuff but the engines and fuselage is what makes the b1b a special aircraft
Fascinating story of the Father of the Mig.... a poor shepard from the mountains not only managed - thanks to communism ! - get an academic education, but he managed to become one of the world's most famous jet designers... He was born in the right country, at the right time...
Too many things unsaid, too many conflicts lost, too much money spent while the population(millions) still going outside into unheated toilets that are just a hole in the floor to take a shit during the cold winters.
Absolutely, no clue wether its in nautical mile or not but if the plane is high enough 960km/h will get you through the sound barrier... as altitude increases air density decreases... sound travels slower through air the less dense it gets... supersonic at surface level is around 1225 km/h but if you go up to 30000ft the speed of sound is quite alot slower. (Combined with the lower air density lift and drag also decrease...
Soviet military tech is exceptional. Todays issues are because of lack of maintenance by some corrupt officials. If it wasn’t that, they;would be world class today.
Putin made a statement recently that really drove a point home I hadn't considered before. It was about the deployment of the new SATAN-2 missile. I'll paraphrase it below. _"So we have deployed this new missile, capable of long range and very high speed, and it works on principles you have not anticipated. What has happened is that for the past several decades your military have been working on missile defense systems, at great cost and effort, to oppose our existing systems. However, the existence and deployment of this new missile has rendered all of that time and expense useless. At a fraction of the cost we have made your defense industry waste billions of dollars and large amounts of resources."_ Remember, it's not about the threat, it's about the APPEARANCE of being the threat. Russian equipment has often fared rather poorly when it's come up against it's western equivalents, but the fact it at least _appears_ to be a threat causes us to spend an extraordinary amount of money, time, resources and manpower countering it, even if it's only for sake of appearances.
30:09 "SM-50 65,000ft" specifications on paper are not the same as really.. The Soviets do make the Fighters but not enough of them, there electronics are also second class.
If by "you" you mean the narrator then you may want to know that this documentary is over 30 years old and he's long dead. Also If the documentary listed all the users of mig aircraft it would A; be really long and B; be really boring.
The narrator said the MiG-17 easily exceeded the speed of sound (supersonic), reaching over 600 mph. It better had been WELL over 600 mph, since the speed of sound is 767 mph. Was the MiG-17 truly a supersonic aircraft? Being able to reach the speed of sound in a dive is one thing, but it does not a supersonic plane make. Research says it could just barely reach supersonic speeds in a shallow dive. Otherwise, a very interesting video and gave it a thumbs-up. The MiG-29, along with its close cousin the Su-27, is among the most beautiful jet fighters ever built. And, seeing as how more modern fighters have gone on a very different design path, the -29 (and-27) will probably never be topped as far as gracefulness of line is concerned.
The speed of sound changes based on altitude. Also. This video pre dates the internet where facts weren't as easily checked as they are now. If contemporary source material said it could do xyz then it's understandable it became part of a TV documentary of the time.
@@erichanhauser3190 "You know it!" mind you, I think Russia certainly has made some fine military aircraft. From the West, " Thank you ever so for your Fox-bat".
With what the 25 foxbat can do and the mig 31 can you imagine how high and fast the archangels could really go. All the flights of the SR71, A12 and the lesser known YF12 and the Mig could never catch it hopefully one day the truth will be known.
when belenko landed one in Japan, it turned out they used up kost of their fuel getting up to speed and could only maintain it for a couple of minutes. one of the reasons for the mig 31 to address 25s problems.
I love Russian jets, the body, design, all that tech. And achieving all that, by themselves! But not their cockpits... have you compared their cockpits with that of Western fighters? A tad bit convoluted if you ask me. They need digital cockpits asap! E.g. Su-57/MiG-35 v. French Rafale or American F35s (the French have the most elegant and polished if you ask me).
its also just healthy to have some information still displayed on classic instruments, and not be surrounded by only ipads, if you ask me. the reason i say that is because i have friends who only know the digital clock and not the analog. and also, i think its better to have some aircraft informations displayed permanently on gauges, and not on a screen you have to switch back and forth between modes to get a read out of regards
Je suis un fervent adepte de l’aviation militaire russe bien que je ne sois pas russe moi-même et j’admire tout ce qu’ils ont fait dès le début longue vie à la firme Mig et à la firme Su et qu’ils continue longtemps à me faire rêver grâce à leur travail
just goes to show people and their ideas. Just think if russia allowed everyone to think instead of just the selected few. 🙈🙉🙊😴 after watching this video it seems like Mig stands for a vast group of aircraft. Now robot drones can take out most anything ships and planes. 😎 thanks a lot.
under Harold Wilson the British gave a modern turbo-jet engine to Russia knowing they did not have the metallurgy to build it. some time later the Russians were invited to a British RR aero engine manufacturing plant. the Russians wore shoes with absorbent soles to obtain pre heat treatment samples and were with that knowledge were able to build their own engines that led to the NIG's being sent to Vietnam and the defeat of USA in that war. thank you Labor Party for nothing.
That's actually a common apocryphal story. It's true the labour government was very short sighted in giving the jet to the USSR. But the idea that the factory tour and the special shoes allowed them to work out the materials science is nonsense But it was a often repeated story both during and shortly after the cold war. It was a good way of excusing the screw up of giving the USSR the engine design
The most modern mig 21 is bison which is in service with Indian airforce around 120 are in service and carry R73 missiles with a radar range of 50 km a gss canon and an Israeli jammer with some Indian Avionics enough to kill a F16 block 52 of pakistani air force which isn't been seriously upgraded from the 90s
There is a town in India named Ozar, which having India's first fighter jet factory ( HAL). And town name changed to Ozar Mig.
A little-appreciated feature from Soviet hi-tech: The appearance of a new MiG or Sukhoi every five years or so was enough to keep laundries running at capacity around the Pentagon, and provide work for skilled workers in aerospace towns. I grew up in a good economy, thanks to Russian designers scaring the bejeepers out of American defense planners. Thank you, Russia.
It's like they say: There's no bad news which doesn't result in an opportunity or good news of some sort. Even the infamous Black Death of the 14th century gave us the Renaissance and the birth of the modern period.
Every 5yrs a new detergent hits the market, it figures!
This is my new favorite cold war related comment of all time
Long live Russia Long live Israel Long live India
Dont you think the US would have been an even better economy during the cold war if they hadnt had to put so much of their BNP into the armed forces?
Most favorite documentary i've seen on this website. You know why. It's good to see how far my family's come.
Y7
Too bad, you Sukhoi Flanker cousins seem to be hogging all the attention these days. Hope the planned hypersonic MiG (MiG-41) pushes through
Migoyen, Sukhoi, Tupolev, Yakolev.
Out of them all, the "Mig" meant Soviet in the same way that Kalashnikov did.
kaliskinov named AK-47 golem
It's "Mikoyan i Gurevich", M&G you could say. "I" (like ee in see) means "and" in russian. "Mig" is also means "instant", "flash", "blink" or "moment". Good name for something that covers kilometers in blink of an eye.
MiG s durability and complete efectivness are totaly insane.
MiG is like AK47.Very reliable in all conditions.
@@MINITMANRADIONETWORKThe Ak47 of the skies.
You look at the Mig 29 and one would not think its now about 40 years old !
Same can be said about f 15 or f 16 you would not think it's 40 year old
If there a Mig21 in service in 2029, its longer in service then the USSR itself !!
*somebody else made this comment
Not until you take a look into it’s cockpit 😀 Jokes aside, it is one of the best and beautiful jets EVER.
@@flanker8724 the F-15?
I agree! :)
If the f14 didn’t cost so much to maintain it would prolly still be around- just ask Maverick 😳
Just in time for pre-Christmas lazy days, thanks Mike. Keep ‘em coming, and best of luck with your book.
Great show!
I like the MiG 21.
I really appreciate you posting these for us. Please keep up the great work and thank you again
Any idea what the series is called?
The death of a test pilot in the Mig-25 Fox Bat (which reached Mach 3.2) literally killed him. He had a heart attack and was dead soon after in 1970.
Thank you 💖 for uploading and sharing.
I love the design approach of pencil and paper and ruler! They were such a gifted bunch
Real design starts with this equipment.
It was state of the art at the time.
I love the look of Soviet fighters
stoneage look
@@MrTiti 2077 look*
Same here got the MiG 3, 15, 17, 21, 23, 25, and 29 in diecast and waiting on a MiG-31 that's gonna be released next December
The same philosophy as the design of the AK47. Simple stuff that works after a bath in mud. If you get dust in your precision German machine you will have a "storing". (Stooring = stoppage - Afrikaans)
Nay, later models are all based on F-15, both MiG-29 and Su-27. Even tho I am on the other side I must admit.
Awesomeness!!!!!!!! Thanks so much for uploading these videos.
Magnificent documentary about Soviet MiGs. I love the MiG jets for some reason.
I’m just know starting to like migs, I liked sukhois before.
I too have always been fascinated by Soviet military aircraft. During the Cold War, it was fun trying to figure out who was copying off who when it came to aircraft designs.
Russian jet tech is seemingly more visually beautiful than any other.
Nice video, always enjoy the under appreciated Soviet tech from this era
Thanks for uploading!
Thanks Mike 😊 for uploading these gems from yesterday.. liked n subscribed..
Awesome thanks
Always loved the MiGs, The MiG 19 "Farmer" is one of my alltime favourite jets.
I like the part where he says "bureau"
Because this is what they called them in USSR as they couldn't have companies due to the economy type. The word was obviously taken from French
Quite Comprehensive History - Thumbs Up !
The mig 31 has always been a favourite of mine......I mean 1900mph at 65,000ft
and they are now dropping Kinsal hypersonic missiles in Ukraine.
Beautiful jet. I wish I could fly one over a city or through the Grand Canyon.
For those interested in such things these are my 3 favorite aviation art books:
- Aviation Art of Lou Drendel by Lou Drendel
- Grumman F-14 Tomcat by Dave Parsons
- Great Fighter Jets of the Galaxy by Tim Gibson
Does this include mig illustration
Another Dandy Mike!
Stunning air power!👍
Thanks, Mike. Excellent doccie.
This is interesting,just got all my teeth out and this is a nice distraction, thank you.
Excellent documentary!!! I was to get out of my car and you made me watch the whole thing.
If Russians would’ve been able to apply their tenacity and technological aspirations of their aviation industry to their car industry, I think Toyota and Honda would be #2 and # 3 in the reliability list and Porsche would try to catch up with a Lada or Volga...🙃🤣🙃🤣
I thought the same thing except I compared their fighter jets to their commercial airlines which frightened my friend (and many others) when she flew in one during a vacation many years ago.
But soviets did not need cars. They needed factories and gulags.
Anyone know the name of the series? I remember watching it as a kid 25/30 years ago. It was great then.
Communism can only make one thing properly. Propaganda posters which take a committee to design, a labour battalion to put up and which fall down in a way easy to blame on capitalists.
So glad for the differences in concept and design - more admirable, in my opinion, for the lack of resources, personal initiative and the overall atmosphere of life in the USSR - amazing, the achievements made by different minds with different perspectives 👍
Many thanks for providing this !
Can you make a video on history of Sukhoi and Yakovlev jets?
No lie guys it’s 3:40 AM and I just decided I wanted to learn the history of the MiG
A nice gem VHS from 1993
Mig 21 is like a Swiss knife
34:01 That design was far ahead of its time!
I agree, fantastic!
Hope you will take my advice, tq!
You deserve more subscribers!!!!
I hope he starts giving the actual makers of the documentary some credit :(
I love Mig jets, thanks for this documentary. I'd love to see one on their tanks and subs.
If Only Russia had pilots who knew how to boom and zoom with their Mig3's, during the opening phases of Barbarossa history may have been different
Energy fighting tactics were devised and used by the Soviets already in the Spanish Civil War. The MiG-3 was just inferior to the BF-109F at the attitudes that mattered and very few pilots had much expirience flying it.
There were many, many, many things that the soviet military got wrong at the start of Barbarossa that were more significant than the combat preparedness of the MiG-3 pilots. Besides, soviet air doctrine depended on close cooperation between the air and ground force, trying to make a plane that can tango with the 109s in the upper atmosphere doesn’t help cover the IL-2s working the deck.
If you look at the reports from the Russian communist party meetings in the 1930s, they already discuss how defense in depth is the best way to protect the European border. The huge encirclements weren't according to plan, but everything else sort of was.
The Mig-3 was a Polykarpov design.
youre a legend mike
The wings of the red star
Loved that show back in the 90s. Sir Peter Ustinov narrating.
EXCELLENT VIDEO.
Nice video about famous Soviet aircraft history explaining..👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🖐🖐
Legendary video.
A fascinating story of man’s ingenuity and expense in trying to find a way to drop a larger rock on your neighbor’s head.
in early 90 for 2500$ you was able to flight mig25 ;) quite expensive but worth
The 15 was the most innovative.i love the 21 also.after that they just played catchup or coppied us designs.
MiGga pleez..29 for lyfe
"Traveling twice the speed of sound, it's easy to get burned."
Nice
24:37 I’ve flown in the back seat of one of those.
Mig 21 still being used today. How's that for incredible design?
(Only as trainer craft but still a viable machine)
The MIG 21 are use for combat in some countries Romania is one of them
Indian airforce still operates 120
We shot down a F16 using them
What about mig-15 still in service today? North Korea
YOU DA MAN
Awesome Tzastrovia comrade!
The Russian have a tough mentality they build everything strong and tough
the power of stalinium
their hammer on your head was also very tough
They kinda have to, otherwise the weather alone would kill their planes, long before they got them off the ground
Mikoyan was Armenian, not Russian
@@michaelhayes4231 Armenia did NOT exist at that time !!!!
Interesting
SUBBED!
34:02 the Eurofighter Typhoons spiritual cousin haha
It apparently is a very bad idea to push the MIG23 anywhere close to its top speed.
that thing wants to undress itself
Mig 29 my favorite aircraft growing up im 46 now its the b1b lancer a10 warthog so maybe ive said a lot about my tastes the way ive changed from mig 29 beautifully engineered sleek highly manoeuvrable iconic aircraft to the bone and the hog which are ugly beautiful and both are the most beautifully designed aircraft ever built because their design was not for looks but for purpose but the uglyness became a beauty , i could watch a lancer takeoff and land all day and i know all about the terrain hugging avionics and its low altitude ability and stuff but the engines and fuselage is what makes the b1b a special aircraft
Was the I270 a rocket powered plane?
SAAB Gripen, is probably one of the best current fighters, high availability, easy maintenance, Ukraine?
❤
Fascinating story of the Father of the Mig.... a poor shepard from the mountains not only managed - thanks to communism ! - get an academic education, but he managed to become one of the world's most famous jet designers... He was born in the right country, at the right time...
Remember, some people are more equal.
Before the su27 became the standard
this video will get 1 million views
Given it was made 35 years ago, I imagine it's hand many millions of people see it.
cant wait to see what the mig 41 can do when it arrives
i love mig
20:07 Soviet type "D" cannons
I was going to comment on this weaponry as well but it looks like I'm not the only one that noticed.
Russian planes are designed straight forward. Robust,rigid,agile,sweep,lethal but beautiful.👍💪💀🤔.
I don't understand what economics? They don't have economics they have housekeeping .
I met Konstantin Kokinaki in real life.
Science & technology klasse
Ist das Wahr sagen ohne Farben ins Augen....?
so few people have given this a thumbs up?
How will I sleep at night?
Too many things unsaid, too many conflicts lost, too much money spent while the population(millions) still going outside into unheated toilets that are just a hole in the floor to take a shit during the cold winters.
@@vladmiller5285 hahaha
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Soviet_Union_GDP_per_capita.gif
Anyone can post up someone else's documentary. I wouldn't say that's worth a like
28:20 "supersonic speeds, exceeding 600mph" (960km/h) ..........
Absolutely, no clue wether its in nautical mile or not but if the plane is high enough 960km/h will get you through the sound barrier... as altitude increases air density decreases... sound travels slower through air the less dense it gets... supersonic at surface level is around 1225 km/h but if you go up to 30000ft the speed of sound is quite alot slower. (Combined with the lower air density lift and drag also decrease...
Soviet military tech is exceptional. Todays issues are because of lack of maintenance by some corrupt officials. If it wasn’t that, they;would be world class today.
Thanks 😊 🙏
Putin made a statement recently that really drove a point home I hadn't considered before.
It was about the deployment of the new SATAN-2 missile. I'll paraphrase it below.
_"So we have deployed this new missile, capable of long range and very high speed, and it works on principles you have not anticipated. What has happened is that for the past several decades your military have been working on missile defense systems, at great cost and effort, to oppose our existing systems. However, the existence and deployment of this new missile has rendered all of that time and expense useless. At a fraction of the cost we have made your defense industry waste billions of dollars and large amounts of resources."_
Remember, it's not about the threat, it's about the APPEARANCE of being the threat.
Russian equipment has often fared rather poorly when it's come up against it's western equivalents, but the fact it at least _appears_ to be a threat causes us to spend an extraordinary amount of money, time, resources and manpower countering it, even if it's only for sake of appearances.
Only problem with this video is not giving credit to the people who made it. Sure they are probably all dead now. but still.
30:09 "SM-50 65,000ft" specifications on paper are not the same as really..
The Soviets do make the Fighters but not enough of them, there electronics are also second class.
Among the users you forgot to mention Slovakia, Serbia, Belarus, Iran, at least.
If by "you" you mean the narrator then you may want to know that this documentary is over 30 years old and he's long dead.
Also
If the documentary listed all the users of mig aircraft it would A; be really long and B; be really boring.
Mig 29 is a Beautiful airplane. Dare I say more beautiful than the F-15 Eagle? 😮 lol
Damn it. It’s the “Sah viet” guy again.
The narrator said the MiG-17 easily exceeded the speed of sound (supersonic), reaching over 600 mph. It better had been WELL over 600 mph, since the speed of sound is 767 mph. Was the MiG-17 truly a supersonic aircraft? Being able to reach the speed of sound in a dive is one thing, but it does not a supersonic plane make. Research says it could just barely reach supersonic speeds in a shallow dive.
Otherwise, a very interesting video and gave it a thumbs-up.
The MiG-29, along with its close cousin the Su-27, is among the most beautiful jet fighters ever built. And, seeing as how more modern fighters have gone on a very different design path, the -29 (and-27) will probably never be topped as far as gracefulness of line is concerned.
The speed of sound changes based on altitude.
Also. This video pre dates the internet where facts weren't as easily checked as they are now. If contemporary source material said it could do xyz then it's understandable it became part of a TV documentary of the time.
When you're in with the 'In Crowd'.
You'll go where the 'In Crowd' goes.
@@erichanhauser3190 "You know it!" mind you, I think Russia certainly has made some fine military aircraft. From the West, " Thank you ever so for your Fox-bat".
And still ☝️
Soviets be like
Haha titanium
KS1 vs Loyal
With what the 25 foxbat can do and the mig 31 can you imagine how high and fast the archangels could really go. All the flights of the SR71, A12 and the lesser known YF12 and the Mig could never catch it hopefully one day the truth will be known.
Soviet make the best fighters and rifles in the world.
Best tanks too! Fantastic weaponry.
@@a.m.armstrong8354 lol the best tanks. The best at what, throwing their turrets 10 meters into the sky?
hows the mig 25.mach 3...now that aint crawling
when belenko landed one in Japan, it turned out they used up kost of their fuel getting up to speed and could only maintain it for a couple of minutes. one of the reasons for the mig 31 to address 25s problems.
thanks to german engineer
I like soviet fighters
I love Russian jets, the body, design, all that tech. And achieving all that, by themselves! But not their cockpits... have you compared their cockpits with that of Western fighters? A tad bit convoluted if you ask me. They need digital cockpits asap!
E.g. Su-57/MiG-35 v. French Rafale or American F35s (the French have the most elegant and polished if you ask me).
its also just healthy to have some information still displayed on classic instruments, and not be surrounded by only ipads, if you ask me.
the reason i say that is because i have friends who only know the digital clock and not the analog. and also, i think its better to have some aircraft informations displayed permanently on gauges, and not on a screen you have to switch back and forth between modes to get a read out of
regards
Have you seen Sukhoi 35 cockpit
Robert Powell.
Je suis un fervent adepte de l’aviation militaire russe bien que je ne sois pas russe moi-même et j’admire tout ce qu’ils ont fait dès le début longue vie à la firme Mig et à la firme Su et qu’ils continue longtemps à me faire rêver grâce à leur travail
🙏🎗️💕🇷🇺. 💓
just goes to show people and their ideas. Just think if russia allowed everyone to think instead of just the selected few. 🙈🙉🙊😴
after watching this video it seems like Mig stands for a vast group of aircraft. Now robot drones can take out most anything ships and planes. 😎 thanks a lot.
MiG-29K doesn't feature canards at all. Wrong.
In 1992 info was thin and contradictory. And the 29 was confused with the su27. So it's totally understandable that mistake was made
They missed the Mig-28 made by Hollywood
under Harold Wilson the British gave a modern turbo-jet engine to Russia knowing they did not have the metallurgy to build it. some time later the Russians were invited to a British RR aero engine manufacturing plant. the Russians wore shoes with absorbent soles to obtain pre heat treatment samples and were with that knowledge were able to build their own engines that led to the NIG's being sent to Vietnam and the defeat of USA in that war. thank you Labor Party for nothing.
That's actually a common apocryphal story. It's true the labour government was very short sighted in giving the jet to the USSR. But the idea that the factory tour and the special shoes allowed them to work out the materials science is nonsense
But it was a often repeated story both during and shortly after the cold war. It was a good way of excusing the screw up of giving the USSR the engine design
The most modern mig 21 is bison which is in service with Indian airforce around 120 are in service and carry R73 missiles with a radar range of 50 km a gss canon and an Israeli jammer with some Indian Avionics enough to kill a F16 block 52 of pakistani air force which isn't been seriously upgraded from the 90s
They're tiny too, making them difficult to spot in WVR combat. Long live the Fishbed!