Back in the mid '50s, Russian aviation technology was based firmly on their experience of the Korean War, The TsAGI, the Soviet aerodynamic research agency had formed the opinion that the best configuration for a lightweight fighter should be a delta wing with a conventional tailplane.

The Mig bureau were one of those charged with putting this theory into practice. Eventually the designers succeeded, probably beyond their wildest dreams. Yet the first aircraft, while they flew well and were relatively inexpensive to produce, were outclassed by the US fighters they were designed for combat. For a start they were under armed: the first had just two 30mm guns mounted in the wing roots, but to save weight this was changed to a single gun. Internal fuel load was a mere 2340 liters.

The first pre-production MiG-21s reached the VVS - the Soviet Air Force. In late 1958. By 1959 a K-I 3A ('AA-2 Atoll) air-to-air missile had been added to the MiG-2 1s extremely basic armament. This missile had a range of approximately 6.5km with a 6kg warhead, and an infra-red seeker head driving canard control fins, and was almost certainly based on the early American Sidewinder. But to carry this modest weapon the left-hand gun was usually removed to save weight.

None of this stopped other Warsaw Pact countries from ordering the MiG-2 1, once the Soviet Union gave them permission. Like the VVS, they were impressed with its maneuverability and its economics, and small numbers of MiG-21 Fs were made in Czechoslovakia. The same early version has been made in China as the J-7 (F-7 is the export version). The Indians, who were building up their own aircraft began to make the MiG-21themselves, in preference to any Western fighter. India traditionally would have chosen British, but Britain was insisting that fighters were obsolete and hardily trying to export any. This linked Hincustan Aeronautics with MiG fighters, and today the Indian Air Force has followed with the MiG-27M and MiG-29.

One of the most marked changes in appearance came in 1960 when the addition of search radar in a much larger nosecone resulted in the whole forward fuselage being enlarged in the MIG-21PF. The fin was made wider (later it became wider still).

As Soviet avionics technology improved, it was fed into the MiG-2 I. By 1967, the MiG-2 I MF, with the new R- 13 engine, was a totally different aircraft from the one that had first flown eleven years before. The blown flaps were perhaps Just as important as the progressive power increases and the improved weapons. They had a dramatic effect on reducing landing speed, and enabled the MiG-2 I to operate off much smaller airfields, The rival Mirage Ill,could not have any flaps and landed at a much higher speed.

But the MiG-2 I designers decided they could extract still more from this already prolific airplane. They virtually started again and designed a wholly new fighter with the same shape out a new airframe with none of the compromises caused by 20 years of piecemeal changes, Called the MiG-2 I bis, the latest version also has the R-25, a much more powerful yet lighter and more economical engine.

Specifications: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 F 'Fishbed-C single-seat interceptor and ground-attack fighter Span: 23ft 5.5 in Length: 44ft 2in without probe Powerplant: lxTumanskii R-11F, 5750 kg (12,6761b) at Armament: 1x30-mm cannon, plus provision for 2xM-2 'Atoll' AAMs or 2x16-tube rocket launchers on 2xunderwing hard points Max T/O weight: 19,0261b Max speed: Mach 2 at 36,090 ft Operational range: 273 miles