Mig-21PF – Photos & Video

Photo gallery of a Mig-21PF, The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed “Balalaika”, from the aircraft’s planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek (English: pencil) by Polish pilots due to the shape of its fuselage.

Source: Mig-21PF on Wiki

The Mig-21PF was a variant of the Soviet jet fighter and interceptor aircraft Mig-21, which first flew in 1955. The PF stood for “perekhvatchik-frontovoy”, meaning “front-line interceptor”. The Mig-21PF was designed to improve the performance and capabilities of the earlier Mig-21F model, which had limited radar and missile systems. The Mig-21PF featured a new radar, the RP-21 Sapfir (Sapphire), which could detect targets at a range of up to 20 km and guide two K-13 (AA-2 Atoll) infrared homing missiles.
The Mig-21PF also had a longer nose cone to accommodate the radar, a modified air intake, and a new ejection seat. The Mig-21PF entered service in 1964 and was widely exported to various countries, including Egypt, India, Iraq, North Korea, and Vietnam. The Mig-21PF was used in several conflicts, such as the Six-Day War, the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Iran-Iraq War. The Mig-21PF was eventually replaced by more advanced variants of the Mig-21, such as the Mig-21MF and the Mig-21bis.