TALES OF THE 21

Lethal Cold War icon

- BY BARRETT TILLMAN

It was late late—or maybe early early—and Robin Olds was holding forth as only he could. After the bar had closed, Robin was still talking fighters, specifically the F-4 versus the MiG-21. He pounded a fist on the table. Then, in that deceptively soft voice with Yosemite Sam overtones, he said, “The best flying job in the world was a MiG-21 pilot at Phuc Yen. Hell, the way we fought that (bleeping war, if I had been one of them, I'd have got 50 of us!”

In a war where the MiG-17, -19 and -21 were code-named Red, White and Blue, two of Robin's four victories were “Blue Bandits.”

The MiG-21 (NATO "Fishbed") has been touted as the most successful fighter jet, but nobody has defined “successful.” If it's numbers built, the MiG-15 leads the list with some 18,000. But with more than 11,400 produced in fellow-traveling nations, the 21 retains the title as most-built supersonic fighter jet ever. (The MiG-23/27 Flogger is second with 6,000+). Additionally, the 21 probably takes the prize for distribution: some 55 nations, including about a dozen as of 2023.

Development

The project leading to the MiG-21 began in 1954, and its rapid progress is attributed to Artem I. Mikoyan, who had been designing airplanes since 1937, was teamed with Mikhail Y. Gurevich, as both men emerged from the Polikarpov organization. In 1939, their collaboration became institutionalized as the Mikoyan-Gurevich sector of No. 1 Osoaviakhim aircraft plant, hence the designation MiG. (It was also a pun: reportedly, in Russian “mig” means “immediately.”) Subsequently, the arrangement was formalized as an independent design bureau. Though eventually MiG was widely considered “Mikoyan," the two principals maintained a cordial, efficient working relationship.