Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

FIGHTER OF THE CENTURARY : MiG – 21 The “Hunter Killer”

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • FIGHTER OF THE CENTURARY : MiG – 21 The “Hunter Killer”

    FIGHTER OF THE CENTURY : MiG – 21 The “Hunter Killer”




    From the days of Sputnik, Stalin and Yuri Gagarin to the age of space stations, stealth bombers and nanotechnology it appears that the MiG-21 has outflown all time barriers.

    So good was the nimble MiG, that between 1966 – 72 it shot down 103 F-4s and many other US fighters sending a cold shiver down the spine of most US pilots over N. Vietnam. Come 2015 and the MiG-21 would be celebrating its Diamond Jubliee – 60 years as the “Hunter Killer”. Even today, Air Forces around the world are still upgrading the MiG, pushing the plane to its limits, like the IAF MiG-21 Bison (formerly known as the MiG-21-93/UPG) armed with the new Phazotron Kopyo radars, R-77 BVRAAMs and helmet mounted sights match up to the F-16s of the Air Force of Pakistan. Another good example is the Elbit Lancer (Israel-Romania).


    Pakistan lost its Starfighter to the IAF MiG-21, Iran lost its famed F-14 Tomcat to the Iraqi AF MiG-21 and most recently an American F-15E was shot down by a MiG-21 over village Donja Trnova, 15km southwest of Bijeljina, Republic of Srpska and yet in another incident a Dogfight between a Yugoslav Mig-21 and US F-15 ended up with the F-15 crashing near Avala mountain. Here is the link :

    http://www.aeronautics.ru/natodown03240423.htm

    If there is a fighter plane that outflew time from the Cold War-Vietnam-Gulf War-Present Day eras of Fighter Aircraft, it undoubtedly is the MiG-21, a plane that was born in the age of the Sabre Jets and lived on to shoot down the F-117 Stealth Bomber in Yugoslavia (as some sources claim).
    Last edited by Lord Vastu; 20 May 05,, 09:31.

  • #2
    Not a bad plane, produced in huge quantities. But not the fighter of the century.
    "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes." G-Man

    Comment


    • #3
      Nice spelling super troll.



      The real fighter of the century.

      Comment


      • #4
        P-51 Mustang is sturdy plane, I agree. But I will vote for Spitfires anyday. (the Hawker Hunters scored most of the air kills over Britain. but that another issue )
        Attached Files
        Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...till you can find a rock. ;)

        Comment


        • #5
          Hmm interresting... I am not sure of my opinion of this.

          Have to agree that MIG-21 has quite long service record/history and is the most built jet.
          But P-51 served also long time.(from WW2 to Korea (was it in use in Vietnam?) also in use in "soccer war" 1968 or 169 not sure of year)

          P-51 was/is best piston engine fighter.
          But MIG-21 isnt best jet fighter but it served in more countries that P-51.

          Comment


          • #6
            I meant "CENTURY" not "CENTURARY"....silly keyboard

            The MiG-21 outlived the Sabre Jets, F-111s, F-14s and although the F-16 was meant to surpass the MiG-21, an IAF MiG-21 "Bison" can still shoot down an F-16 and will be surely outlive the F-16 as well

            Comment


            • #7
              Yes, but how many MiG-21's were lost to the aforementioned planes?

              There really is not one fighter of the century, as each fighter has its strengths and weaknesses in certain areas; however, some candidates are the Fokker DVII, Fokker Dr. I, S.E. 5a, Messerschmitt Bf-109, P-51, Spitfire, F.W. 190, Yak-3, F-86 Saber, F-4 Phantom, MiG-21, F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, F-16, F-18, Sukhoi Su-27, MiG-29 Fulcrum, and, of course, the F-22.
              "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes." G-Man

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Lord Vastu
                I meant "CENTURY" not "CENTURARY"....silly keyboard

                The MiG-21 outlived the Sabre Jets, F-111s, F-14s and although the F-16 was meant to surpass the MiG-21, an IAF MiG-21 "Bison" can still shoot down an F-16 and will be surely outlive the F-16 as well

                Shot down an F-15E? Not a chance. Shot down the F-117? Nope, don't think so since the Black Jet was flying at night and I'd love to see a MiG-21 that could successfully engage (much less shoot down) an F-117 at night. Although, in daytime a Nighthawk would be easy meat for most aircraft with a Vulcan-type gun.
                The problem is, Nighthawks don't fly combat during the day.
                “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                Comment


                • #9
                  "There really is not one fighter of the century, as each fighter has its strengths and weaknesses in certain areas; however, some candidates are the Fokker DVII, Fokker Dr. I, S.E. 5a, Messerschmitt Bf-109, P-51, Spitfire, F.W. 190, Yak-3, F-86 Saber, F-4 Phantom, MiG-21, F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, F-16, F-18, Sukhoi Su-27, MiG-29 Fulcrum, and, of course, the F-22."

                  IMO, in order to qualify for the running, the plane in question has to have been on the winning side of it's major conflicts.

                  The P-51, spitfire, etc meet that qualification...the Mig-21 does not.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    can still shoot down an F-16 and will be surely outlive the F-16 as well
                    Sure. It'll crash all on its own, before it even comes within firing range. It's not a bad plane, but you've over-stated things a whole lot, IMO.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by M21Sniper
                      IMO, in order to qualify for the running, the plane in question has to have been on the winning side of it's major conflicts.
                      The P-51, spitfire, etc meet that qualification...the Mig-21 does not.
                      Not necessarily.German Messerschmitt ME 109's were damn good during WWII.
                      Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...till you can find a rock. ;)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Asim Aquil
                        Sure. It'll crash all on its own, before it even comes within firing range. It's not a bad plane, but you've over-stated things a whole lot, IMO.
                        Mig-21 'Bison' have new airframes and have been upgraded with modern avionics and weapons. Dont ever underestimate these planes. the crashing ones were bought in 1970's. They will be retired in the coming years.
                        Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...till you can find a rock. ;)

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Why would they build new airframes? I think you mean they were zero-timed, similar to the F-16 MLU's. A new airframe is a new AC.
                          "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by highsea
                            Why would they build new airframes? I think you mean they were zero-timed, similar to the F-16 MLU's. A new airframe is a new AC.
                            Highsea,
                            I meant that the Mig-21 'Bison's are new migs that were built under license in the mid 90's by HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics ltd) .all the upgrades were done on these new ones.
                            Last edited by hammer; 20 May 05,, 20:19.
                            Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...till you can find a rock. ;)

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by M21Sniper
                              "There really is not one fighter of the century, as each fighter has its strengths and weaknesses in certain areas; however, some candidates are the Fokker DVII, Fokker Dr. I, S.E. 5a, Messerschmitt Bf-109, P-51, Spitfire, F.W. 190, Yak-3, F-86 Saber, F-4 Phantom, MiG-21, F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, F-16, F-18, Sukhoi Su-27, MiG-29 Fulcrum, and, of course, the F-22."

                              IMO, in order to qualify for the running, the plane in question has to have been on the winning side of it's major conflicts.

                              The P-51, spitfire, etc meet that qualification...the Mig-21 does not.
                              I disagree because some of the planes that were on the losing side were better than those of the winning side, such as the Fokker DVII, widely considered the best fighter of WWI. Also, the Messerschmitt Bf-109 almost certainly shot down more planes than say, the P-51. Admittedly, this is because the German pilots had a target rich environment, whereas the Americans had trouble finding German planes to shoot down.
                              "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes." G-Man

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X