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 then 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.

On January 1, 1959 when Cuban President Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro’s
Cuban Revolution Forces the Fuerza Aérea Revolucionara (Revolutionary Air Force) was
formed. After the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 the name was changed to Air Defense
Anti Revolutionary Armed Forces (DAAFAR) in 1963. The role of the DAAFAR was to
protect Cuban airspace, support the Cuban army and navy. Cuban airspace is divided
into 3 sectors, Eastern, Central and Western comprised of 6 interceptor regiments. The
Western Air Zone is covered by the 2° Brigada de la Guardia "Playa Girón" ("Bay of Pigs"
Guard Brigade). The USSR delivered 60 Mig-21MF aircraft to help the Cuban Air Force.

Mig-21MF Specs:

Power Plant:
One 41.55kN (9,340lb st) or 64.73kN (14,550lb st) with afterburner Tumansky R-13-300
turbojet

Dimensions
Wingspan: 7.15m (23ft 5½in)
Length: 15.76m (51ft 8½in) - including Pitot boom
Max T-O weight: 9,400kg (20,725lb)

Performance
Max speed: Mach 2.1 (2,230km/h - 1,385mph) above 11,000m (36,000ft) Mach 1.06
(1,300km/h - 807mph) at low level
Range: 1,100km (683 miles) - internal fuel only 1,800km (1,118 miles) - with three
external drop tanks, one under fuselage, one under each wing

Armament
One 23mm twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon with 200 rounds in belly pack
Various air-to-air and air-to-ground stores carried on four under wing pylons including:
K-13A "Atoll" or "Advanced Atoll" a-a missiles,
UV-16-57 rocket packs,
S-24 a-s rockets,
250kg and 500kg bombs
1 X centre line drop tank.

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