Zhe Hungarian MiG-21 – Hungary was the first Warsaw Pact country to receive the new MiG-21F-13. The HuAF had an establishment of three fighter regiments (ezred) of which two usually had two squadrons (szazad) and the third three squadrons.

 The first twelve MiG-21F-13 (izdeliye 74) fighters arrived in 1961, followed by 68 more. They were intended to equip the regiments based first at Papa, then Kecskemet and finally Taszar. All three regiments had been formed in November 1958 on the basis of the Kikepzo ezred (Training Centre). HuAF serials were normally red and usually coincided with the last three or four digits of the construction number, with the occasional exception to confuse a potential enemy. Read the rest of this entry »

East German MiG 21 – Ultimately equipping in various guises six JG and two Taktische Aufklärungsfliegerstaffel (Tactical Air Reconnaissance Squadron, TAPS), the MiG-21 played a major role in the EGAF (East Germany Air Force) right up to the reunification of East and West Germany on 3rd October 1990. At that point, although 50 MiG-21 s had been withdrawn from EGAF service in 1989 as part of a friendly gesture by all Warsaw Pact countries, 251 MiG-21 s of seven differ­ent versions were transferred to the unified Luftwaffe. Not accepted as a standard type, the MiG-21s were rapidly phased out of Luftwaffe service. Read the rest of this entry »

Finland MiG 21 Fishbed – On 6th March 1918, three months after Finland’s declaration of independence, the Finnish Air Force (Suomen llmavoimat) was created when Count Eric von Rosen donated a Morane Saulnier Type D parasol monoplane built by Thulin. The aircraft carried the Count’s blue swastika as a good luck charm and this was adopted by the Finnish Air Force as its national insignia until changed in 1945 for blue and white roundels. Read the rest of this entry »

Egyptian MiG 21 – The first MiG-21 F-13 (izdeliye 74) fighters arrived in June and July 1962 and equipped one Fighter Brigade, equivalent to a US Fighter Wing, comprising three squadrons. Another 80 were ordered in 1963 and followed in 1964 by 40 MiG-21 U (izdeliye 66) trainers and 40 MiG-21 PF (izdeliye 76) interceptors. The latter were sent to the Brigade that received the first supply of MiG-21 F-13s, which were passed on to replace MiG-17s and MiG-19s in other regiments. In 1965 there was a reorganisation of the Egyptian Air Force; the brigades and squadrons were renumbered and by the outbreak of the Six-Day War on 6th June 1967, the EAF had received 235 MiG-21 fighters and 40 trainers. Read the rest of this entry »

The Czech MiG-21 – Deliveries of the MiG-21 F-13 (izdeliye 74) to the Warsaw Pact countries started in 1961, but Czechoslovakia was exceptional in that it was permitted to manufacture the new fighter under licence. The Mikoyan OKB worked very closely with the Aero Vodochody National Corporation, which built 194 MiG-21 F-13s under the local designation S-106.  All Czechoslovakia Air Force (CzAF) examples were locally built. At the end of the 1960s the designation S-106 was dropped and the Czech-built fighters were henceforth referred to as MiG-21 F-13s. Read the rest of this entry »

Cuban MiG 21 Fishbed – The first MiG-21 F-13 fighters to arrive in Cuba in 1962 belonged to the 213th IAP, PVO, USSR. This regiment, when based at Kubinka as the 32nd GvIAP, was the first in the USSR to receive the MiG-21 F-13, becoming operational in 1961. Its designation was changed and it was secretly moved in June 1962 to a Baltic port and, together with its 40 fighters and six UTI MiG-15 trainers, transhipped to Cuba, arriving in September and taking up residence at Santa Clara. As a sensible precaution after the Cuban Missile Crisis started on 22nd October, its aircraft were prudently dispersed to San Antonio de los Baños, Santa Clara and Camagüey at the end of October. At first the fighters carried no national insignia but after a potentially perilous confrontation with two Lockheed F-104C Starfighters of the USAF’s 479th Tactical Fighter Wing, FAR insignia were hastily added. Read the rest of this entry »

North Korean MiG-21 Fishbed – After the country was liberated from the Japanese, the North was quickly brought into the communist sphere of influence whilst the South looked to the USA for assistance. On 25th June 1950 the North Korean army invaded the South, which, with help from the United Nations, finally repelled the invaders and an uneasy truce was agreed in 1953, which is still holding. The Korean People’s Army Air Force (KPAAF) was separated from the Army in 1948. The USSR provided aid until 1991, from which time aircraft and other goods were charged at the market price and paid for in hard currency. Read the rest of this entry »