MiG-21RF Frontal Aviation (1:72)

Originally built by the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union with a NATO ickname 'Fishbed'. No other jet has had as many planes produced as the Mig-21. Depending on the reference source 8,000 ' 13,000 planes of all versions were made in the Soviet Union, under license to allied countries and China without license. At the time of it's 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 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.

The Soviet Air Force (Russian - ______-_________ ____ / Latin alphabet - Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily or VVS was the official designation of one of the Soviet Air Forces. The VVS was divided into branches during the Cold War period. There was the FA (Frontal Aviation) that was responsible for battlefield air defense, close air support and interdiction. One aircraft used by them was based on the MiG-21MF. The MiG-21RF reconnaissance version is also known as the Fishbed H and is powered by an uprated Tumansky R-13-300 turbojet engine. They carry a center-line reconnaissance pod that has the ability to carry either optical or tv cameras as well as infra-red sensors. The pod could also be equipped with an SLAR (side-looking airborne radar). These aircraft had their guns removed.