Hobby Master HA0144 1:72 Mig-21 RF, Soviet Air Force "45"

16Hobby Master HA0144 1:72 Mig-21 RF, Soviet Air Force "45"

The Mig-21 was originally built by the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau in the
Soviet Union with a NATO nickname Fishbed. No other jet has had as many planes
produced as the Mig-21. Depending on the reference source 3,000 - 8,000 planes of all versions were made in the Soviet Union, under license to allied countries and China
without license. At the time of its introduction into the Soviet Air Force service in 1959, it was exactly what they wanted. A small, fast, agile, dependable and most importantly
simple making it easy to turn out great numbers of the plane. The skies of Eastern
Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America seemed to be filled with thousands of the Mig-21. Because of its relatively low cost since it was heavily subsidized by the Soviets, it became the plane of choice for many third world countries. Taking this into account this plane has seen more wars than any other modern day jet. The Mig-21 was used in front line service for over 30 years equaling that of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. There were 5 generations of the plane in many versions and each generation brought with it great improvements over its predecessors. There are/were some 21 countries that flew the Mig-21.