Key Points - The Soviet-era MiG-21 "Fishbed," first introduced in 1955, became the most-produced jet aircraft in aviation history, with over 11,000 built and serving in as many as 60 countries.

Compared to contemporaries like the American F-4 Phantom II, the MiG-21 was less complex and far cheaper to produce—but could hold its own against the more sophisticated American jet. The best Soviet ...

August 13, 2025: Next month India will retire the last of its Russian-designed MiG-21 fighters. India is the last major country to abandon MiG-21s. This aircraft entered service in 1959. In 1986 ...

For a quarter of a century, much of the news about the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been about the abysmal flight safety record of its premier fighter – the redoubtable MiG-21. On September 26, after ...

Today the IAF phased out the MiG-21 Bison after a 62-year-long career, spanning two thirds of the air force’s total lifespan. The MiG-21 is often thought of as synonymous with the Indian Air Force, ...