MiG-21MF (Italy)

This page is about the jet fighter MiG-21MF (Italy). For other versions, see MiG-21 (Family).

◔MiG-21MF

◔MiG-17PF

◔MiG-21bis-SAU

◔MiG-21MF

◔MiG-17PF

◔MiG-21bis-SAU

Italy

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.3	10.7	10.7

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:260 000

Purchase:710 000

Show in game

Description

Similar to the stories of the "Widowmaker" in the West due to its high accident rate, the Eastern Bloc had its own equivalent. The MiG-21 in Hungarian service was one of the most deadly aircraft to its own pilots ever in Hungarian history. Hungary received hundreds of MiG-21s throughout the years, which ended up in 72 total airframe losses and 32 pilot fatalities due to accidents resulting from various problems. Faulty engines in Hungarian MiG-21 batches, improper training, and lack of maintenance on the older models, all resulted in the infamous reputation of the MiG-21 as a widowmaker in the Hungarian Air Force. One of these widowmakers was the MiG-21MF variant, of which Hungary acquired 50 between 1971 and 1974 before being supplemented by the more advanced MiG-21bis just three years later. The MiG-21s saw very long service with Hungary even after the fall of the USSR, with the last MiG-21MFs being retired in 1996.

The ◔MiG-21MF (NATO Code: Fishbed-J) was introduced in Update "Alpha Strike" in the Hungarian sub-tree of the Italian tech tree. Like the other third-generation MiG-21 airframes, this one features a built-in GSh-23 cannon under the fuselage instead of an external Gsh-23L gunpod, meaning it does not have to sacrifice the cannon to take the SPS-141 countermeasures pod. In addition to that improvement, the MiG-21MF has a potent arsenal of weaponry for its battle rating, namely the R-60 air-to-air missile. Combined with its incredible high speed manoeuvrability and overall gameplay loop, the MiG-21MF is a very potent fighter aircraft for its tier. Do be wary, however, that while the MiG-21MF is indeed lighter than its Soviet counterpart, the MiG-21SMT, the SMT has a far better engine, which allows it to win longer dogfights easier assuming both planes start on equal footing. All in all, the MiG-21MF provides acceptable air support and welcomed choice variety to the pilots of the Italian tech tree around this battle rating.

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Drogue parachute

Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway

Max speed

at 13 000 m2 240 km/h

Turn time33 s

Max altitude16 000 m

Take-off weight10 t

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at _,___ m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	___	___	16000	__._	__._	__._	__._	___
Upgraded	___	___		__._	__._	__._	__._

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
_	_	_	_	_	_

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1365	700	___	___	___	~__	~__

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< ___	< ___	< ___	-

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
_____		_	_,___ kg		___ kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Gross Weight
Weight (each)	Type		_m fuel	__m fuel	__m fuel
___ kg	___		_,___ kg	_,___ kg	_,___ kg	_,___ kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (___%/WEP)
Condition	100%	___%/WEP	_m fuel	__m fuel	__m fuel	MGW
Stationary	___ kgf	___ kgf	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Optimal	___ kgf (_ km/h)	___ kgf (_ km/h)	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__

Survivability and armour

Flares/Chaff

Aircraft countermeasures to distract IR and radar-guided missiles and also AA radar

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural1 365 km/h

Gear700 km/h

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 942 → 4 277

RB9 320 → 13 551

SB8 131 → 11 822

Total cost of modifications222 500

347 000

Talisman cost2 800

Crew training200 000

Experts710 000

Aces2 800

Research Aces1 080 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

130 / 340 / 600 %

232 / 232 / 232 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Compressor Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 340 New boosters Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 380 Wings repair Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 410 Engine Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 680	Fuselage repair Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 340 Airframe Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 380 G-suit Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 410 Cover Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 680	ns23_belt_pack Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 340 UB-16 Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 340 Flares/Chaff Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 340 UB-32 Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 380 R-3S Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 380 FAB-250 Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 380 ns23_new_gun Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 410 S-24 Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 410 R-3R Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 410 EFS Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 680 R-60 Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 680

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)	EEGS

Offensive armament

The MiG-21MF (Italy) is armed with:

• 1 x 23 mm GSh-23L cannon, belly-mounted (200 rpg)

Suspended armament

The MiG-21MF (Italy) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5
250 kg OFAB-250sv bombs	1	1		1	1
S-5K rockets	16	16, 32		16, 32	16
S-24 rockets	1	1		1	1
R-3R missiles	1	1		1	1
R-3S missiles	1	1		1	1
R-60 missiles	1	1		1	1
Countermeasures			64
490 l drop tanks	1		1		1

Default weapon presets
3 x 490 l drop tanks 2 x 490 l drop tanks + 64 x countermeasures + 2 x R-3S missiles 2 x 490 l drop tanks + 64 x countermeasures + 2 x R-3R missiles 4 x R-3S missiles 4 x R-3R missiles 4 x R-60 missiles 4 x S-24 rockets 64 x S-5K rockets 64 x S-5K rockets 4 x 250 kg OFAB-250sv bombs (1,000 kg total) 64 x countermeasures

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great acceleration and top speed
• Extremely manoeuvrable
• 4 x R-60 missiles are extremely effective at this BR, 30G max overload and adequate IR tracking

Cons:

• Bleeds excessive amounts of energy during turns, making it very tricky to retain energy in dogfights
• Low ammo count for the 23 mm cannon
• R-60 missiles are prone to chasing flares

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the MiG-21MF (Italy) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• MiG-21 (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] The Hungarian Aircraft Line is Coming to the Italian Tree!

Italy jet aircraft
Aerfer	Sagittario 2 · Ariete
Fiat	G.91 pre-serie · G.91 R/1 · G.91 R/4 (Portugal) · G.91 Y · G.91 YS
AMX International	AMX · AMX A-1A (Brazil)
Panavia	Tornado ADV · ▄Tornado IDS · ▄Tornado IDS (1995)
	Foreign:
Vampire	Vampire FB 52A
F-84	▄F-84F · ▄F-84G-21-RE
F-86	CL-13 Mk.4 · ▄F-86K
F-104	▄F-104G · F-104S · ▄F-104S TAF (Turkey) · F-104S.ASA
F-16	▄F-16A ADF
AV-8	▄AV-8B Plus
Hungary
Mikoyan-Gurevich	◔MiG-15bis · ◔MiG-17PF · ◔MiG-21MF · ◔MiG-21bis-SAU · ◔MiG-23MF · ◔MiG-29
Ilyushin	◔IL-28
Sukhoi	◔Su-22M3
Saab	◔JAS39EBS HU C