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00:00This is the MiG-21, the most produced jet fighter in history and one of the longest-serving fighters in aviation.
00:09It was designed back in the 1950s as a Mach 2 frontline fighter.
00:15It became iconic for its distinctive delta wings, circular nose intake and incredible agility.
00:22The MiG-21 embodied the Soviet air defense approach for taking on heavier Western aircraft using hit-and-run tactics.
00:31In this video, we're going to be taking a deep dive into the MiG-21F-13, the first major export variant of this aircraft
00:40and the first to be equipped with air-to-air missiles to explore how this legendary aircraft changed air combat tactics.
00:48My name is David Webb and this is Blue Pawporn.
00:54The MiG-21F-13 airframe was built for agility at supersonic speeds.
01:01It measured 44 feet 1.9 inches long and stood 13 feet 5.4 inches tall, weighing 12,882 pounds when empty.
01:12Its delta wings had an area of 247.6 square feet and a wingspan of 23 feet 5.7 inches.
01:23Its main counterpart, the American F4D Phantom II, was much bigger at just over 58 foot long
01:30and it was more than twice as heavy at a shade under 29,000 pounds.
01:35The fuselage was all metal, made from an alloy of aluminium and magnesium,
01:42with steel in the places that needed extra strength.
01:45Its semi-monocoque design struck a balance between strength and weight.
01:50The fuselage had an oval cross-section and was divided into two main sections.
01:54The forward section housed the cockpit, wings, fuel tanks and the main landing gear,
02:01while the aft contained the engine, tail assembly and exhaust nozzle.
02:07These two sections were divided by a disassembly joint at frame number 28
02:12to allow engine maintenance and removal access.
02:15The front of the aircraft was recognizable due to its circular nose air intake
02:21and adjustable nose cone.
02:24Right below the intake lip was a long pitot tube
02:28that measured the aircraft's airspeed, angle of attack and yaw.
02:33The MiG-21's delta wings were perhaps its most distinctive feature.
02:38They swept back from the fuselage at an angle of 33 degrees out to cropped tips.
02:43Structurally, each wing was built around a main spar
02:47and two secondary spars running along the leading and trailing edges.
02:54This design, along with the MiG-21's short fuselage,
02:58made it highly responsive in roles
03:00and allowed pilots to change directions quickly.
03:03It also helped the plane pull high angles of attack,
03:06which was a key advantage for ambush tactics.
03:09Each wing had one hard point for external stores
03:14and housed two internal fuel cells
03:16located in front of and behind the landing gear wells.
03:21The MiG-21's quick roll rates were aided by its relatively small control surfaces,
03:27primarily the ailerons.
03:29The ailerons had a maximum deflection of 20 degrees in both directions
03:34and were operated by actuator rods
03:37powered by a booster hydraulic system.
03:41If necessary, the hydraulic boost could be switched off,
03:44although this made aileron control more difficult.
03:47The flaps located between the ailerons and the wing routes
03:51acted as secondary control surfaces.
03:54When taking off and landing,
03:56the flaps would extend to 24.5 degrees,
04:00boosting the wing's curvature
04:01and helping the aircraft lift off safely
04:04at speeds as low as 211 miles an hour.
04:08Two small wing fences were added to the wings
04:11to help manage airflow and boost aerodynamic stability.
04:15The tail section's control surfaces consisted of a vertical fin
04:20with a rudder, a set of stabilators
04:23and a ventral fin positioned on the bottom of the fuselage.
04:28The MiG-21 F-13 had fully moving horizontal stabilators
04:34that made the controls smoother at lower speeds
04:37and allowed for a rapid climb,
04:39crucial for getting out of tricky situations during combat.
04:42The control system featured an ARU-3V module
04:47that changed how much force you needed to move the control stick
04:51depending on how fast the plane was going and its altitude.
04:55When the plane was going slow,
04:57the controls felt lighter and easier to use.
04:59But when it was flying fast or at low altitudes,
05:03the controls got heavier to help avoid oversteering
05:06and keep the aircraft safe from excessive stress.
05:10The plane had three hydraulically operated airbrakes.
05:14The front set of two airbrakes were located on both sides of the lower fuselage,
05:18while the rear airbrake was positioned between the fuselage pylon
05:21and the ventral fin.
05:23Additionally, the MiG-21 was fitted with a circular-shaped braking parachute
05:28housed in a heat-insulated compartment on the bottom left side of the fuselage,
05:33just in front of the ventral fin.
05:35The MiG-21 F-13 was a remarkably fast aircraft for its time.
05:40It could reach a maximum speed of 1,351 miles an hour
05:46at an altitude of 42,650 feet,
05:51the equivalent to around Mach 2.05.
05:54At sea level, its top speed was around 745 miles an hour.
06:00These high speeds were made possible
06:01by the twin-axial Tumansky R11F 300 jet engine.
06:07The engine system consisted of a six-stage compressor
06:12with ten separate flame tubes in the combustion chamber,
06:17a two-stage turbine,
06:20an afterburner chamber,
06:22and an adjustable exhaust nozzle.
06:27The engine had a diameter of just over 2.5 feet,
06:31measured just over 15 feet in length,
06:34and weighed 2,606 pounds.
06:38At full power, the engine operated at 11,150 rpm
06:43and delivered a maximum thrust of 8,598 pound force
06:48under standard conditions without using the afterburner.
06:52The aircraft's thrust could be increased
06:55by engaging an additional component integrated into the engine
06:58called the afterburner.
07:00The afterburner consisted of radially arranged fuel injectors
07:04positioned just behind the engine turbines.
07:08It worked by injecting fuel
07:09directly into the afterburner chamber,
07:12where it ignited upon contact with the hot exhaust gases,
07:16producing significant extra thrust.
07:19With the afterburner at minimum,
07:20the MiG-21 F-13 engine produced 10,803 pound force,
07:27while at maximum output,
07:28it generated 12,677 pound force,
07:33nearly a 50% increase over the standard thrust.
07:37The afterburner gave a significant boost in thrust,
07:39but it also used significantly more fuel.
07:42So it was mostly used for takeoff,
07:44combat, and supersonic flight situations
07:46where additional thrust was essential.
07:50Thanks to this powerful engine
07:51and the MiG-21 being relatively light,
07:54it could accelerate and climb quickly.
07:56This made it easier for pilots to take sharp turns
07:59and recover energy quickly during dogfights.
08:03The MiG-21 F-13 fuel system
08:06consisted of seven internal fuselage fuel tanks
08:09and four tanks within the wings,
08:12giving a total capacity of 652 gallons.
08:15This was five times less than the capacity of the American F-4,
08:20which could be loaded up with 3,335 US gallons of fuel.
08:25Depending on altitude and the power setting,
08:28typical flight duration ranged from 45 minutes to an hour.
08:32But if you use the afterburner at low altitude,
08:35the aircraft could use up all its fuel in under 20 minutes.
08:40To extend the operational range,
08:42the aircraft could be equipped with an external drop tank
08:46mounted on a central fuselage pylon.
08:49An essential component in achieving maximum engine output
08:53was the air intake system,
08:56arguably the most distinctive feature of the MiG-21's design.
09:00The aircraft's primary air intake was regulated by an adjustable cone.
09:06The nose cone was hydraulically operated and had three positions.
09:10Fully retracted was used for speeds up to Mach 1.5.
09:13The middle position was for speeds between Mach 1.5 and 1.9,
09:17while fully extended was used for speeds above Mach 1.9.
09:21The aircraft was also equipped with three sets of auxiliary air intakes,
09:26designed to prevent engine stall,
09:28provide additional airflow during take-off for extra thrust,
09:31and cool down various components in the rear of the fuselage.
09:37Opposite the nose cone was an exhaust nozzle.
09:40Its adjustable design helped control the exhaust gas flow,
09:44making thrust and fuel efficiency better during different flight phases.
09:48The nozzle worked automatically.
09:51When the engine was idling or running at low RPM,
09:54the nozzle would be wide open.
09:56As the throttle increased,
09:57the nozzle contracted,
09:59reaching its smallest size at about 65 to 68% RPM.
10:04If you turned on the afterburner,
10:06the nozzle opened back up to its maximum diameter.
10:09In the event of automatic control failure,
10:12the pilot could adjust the nozzle manually,
10:15but only for two settings,
10:16fully open or fully closed.
10:19The MiG-21 F-13 weapon system
10:22consisted of a radio rangefinder,
10:24the SRD-5MK,
10:27one NR-30 cannon,
10:29and two K-13 R-3S heat-seeking missiles,
10:33which could be replaced with weapons
10:35intended for ground attacks.
10:37The MiG-21 F-13 did not have a radar
10:39in the modern sense.
10:41Instead, it had a range-only SRD-5 radar system
10:45built into the nose.
10:46Because it couldn't search or track.
10:48There wasn't a dedicated display in the cockpit for it.
10:51It only worked with the ASP-5ND optical gun sight
10:54for aiming both the cannon and the missiles.
10:58The single NR-30 cannon
11:00was mounted on the lower right side
11:03of the front fuselage.
11:04It could fire 900 rounds per minute,
11:07but it only carried 60.
11:10Usually, only 30 rounds were loaded into the cannon,
11:14partly to make the plane lighter,
11:15but also because the cannon wasn't used in combat very often.
11:19Most enemy aircraft were shot down with missiles.
11:22The MiG-21 F-13's primary missile
11:25was the Infrared Homing K-13A R-3S air-to-air missile,
11:32known by its NATO reporting name,
11:34the AA-2 Atoll.
11:36This missile was a reverse-engineered version
11:38of the American A-9 Sidewinder,
11:41although it was less advanced.
11:43The missile was equipped
11:45with a 25-pound blast fragmentation warhead
11:49and had a range of 0.6 to 4.7 miles.
11:53However, it did have a major drawback,
11:56which was reduced infrared sensitivity.
12:00The MiG-21's cockpit was designed for a single pilot.
12:04Compared to Western aircraft,
12:06it was relatively modest,
12:07reflecting the Soviet emphasis on simplicity and efficiency,
12:11typical of their early fighter design.
12:15The main instrument panel was vertical and quite deep,
12:18housing the primary flight instruments,
12:20including an artificial horizon,
12:23altimeter,
12:25airspeed Mach indicator,
12:28fuel gauge,
12:30engine RPM gauge,
12:32and various indicator and warning lights.
12:35Additional switches and controls
12:38lined both sides of the cockpit,
12:40some grouped together based on function
12:42and many of them in hard-to-reach locations.
12:45Pilots needed a lot of training
12:47to remember where everything was
12:49and what each control did.
12:51Unlike the cockpits in later versions
12:53that were painted in a light turquoise color
12:55to reduce pilot fatigue
12:56and improve visibility,
12:58the F-13s were painted in shades of gray.
13:01The throttle lever was mounted on the left-hand side
13:05alongside various in-flight controls.
13:08The control stick was in the center
13:10and was equipped with a cannon trigger,
13:13missile launch button,
13:16gyro sight damper,
13:18stabilizer trim control,
13:20and a brake lever.
13:21If the pilot needed to fire,
13:24he could use the MiG-21's
13:26ASP-5ND optical
13:29gyro-stabilized computing gun sight.
13:32This calculated the necessary lead
13:34and adjusted the aim.
13:36The data was then projected
13:37onto a head-up display
13:38via a transparent glass panel
13:40in front of the pilot.
13:42The ASP-5ND
13:43operated in different modes,
13:45including a gyro-stabilized mode
13:48for dynamic targeting
13:49and a fixed mode
13:50for simpler aiming scenarios.
13:55The cockpit was pressurized
13:57and sealed with a bubble canopy
13:58that opened forward
13:59and had two glass panes.
14:01The main pane was a thick 0.4 inches
14:04of convex acrylic heat-resistant glass
14:06and the flat front pane
14:08was a 0.57 inch thick
14:10silicate triplex.
14:12The fixed windscreen
14:13underneath the canopy
14:14was made of armored triplex
14:16and was 2.44 inches thick.
14:20Altogether,
14:21the canopy weighed around 126 pounds.
14:25An interesting feature of the canopy
14:27is that it was designed
14:29to protect the pilot
14:30during an emergency ejection.
14:32If a pilot needed
14:33to escape the aircraft quickly,
14:35the canopy attached itself
14:37to the ejection seat
14:38and created a capsule
14:39that shielded the pilot
14:41from the high-speed airflow.
14:43The ejection seat
14:44could be operated
14:45by pressing either of the handles
14:47located on each side of the seat.
14:51Before firing up the engine,
14:53the pilot had to complete
14:55an extensive checklist
14:56to make sure that everything
14:57in the plane was set up correctly.
14:59This included checking
15:00cockpit switches,
15:02electrical systems,
15:03pneumatic systems,
15:05hydraulic systems,
15:06and fuel systems,
15:07as well as making sure
15:08the flight control surfaces
15:10were moving freely and correctly.
15:12Once the checklist was done,
15:14the pilot started the engine
15:16by moving the throttle
15:17from the stop
15:18to the idle position
15:19and pressing the starter button
15:21for 2 to 3 seconds.
15:24After engine startup,
15:26the pilot would confirm
15:26that all engine systems
15:28were working properly
15:29and then signal to the mechanic
15:31to disconnect ground power.
15:32Next,
15:34the pilot would close
15:35and lock the canopy,
15:37test the stick
15:38for full movement
15:39and check the pitch trim,
15:41air brakes,
15:42flaps,
15:43and his G-suit.
15:46Once the pilot was ready,
15:48he had to taxi the aircraft
15:49to the runway.
15:52On the runway,
15:53he'd move the throttle
15:54fully forward
15:55and release the brakes
15:56while holding the stick
15:57firmly in the center.
16:00When he reached speeds
16:01of around 124 miles an hour,
16:03he would pull back the stick
16:05two-thirds
16:06to raise the nose
16:06approximately 9 degrees.
16:09When the aircraft reached speeds
16:11of between 200 and 220 miles an hour,
16:15the plane would lift off.
16:18Under normal conditions,
16:19the aircraft would start climbing
16:21at an indicated airspeed
16:22of 430 miles an hour,
16:24accelerating gradually
16:26to its true airspeed
16:27of over 580 miles an hour.
16:30In order to climb rapidly,
16:32the pilot could accelerate
16:33to 620 miles an hour
16:35immediately after takeoff,
16:37and the aircraft
16:37could reach a height
16:38of 33,000 feet
16:39in just a couple of minutes.
16:42If the pilot needed
16:43to go supersonic,
16:44he'd engage the afterburner.
16:46As the plane accelerated
16:47through transonic speeds
16:49around Mach 0.8
16:50to Mach 1.2,
16:52the inlet cone
16:53would automatically
16:54adjust to manage
16:55the shockwaves
16:56and keep the airflow
16:57into the engine optimal.
16:59After reaching Mach 1.8,
17:01the pilot would start climbing
17:02to an altitude
17:03of 59,000 feet.
17:05The MiG-21 F-13
17:07service ceiling
17:08was 62,335 feet.
17:13The MiG-21 F-13
17:14first saw serious action
17:16during the Vietnam War,
17:18where it was used
17:19against American aircraft,
17:20participating in Operation
17:22Rolling Thunder.
17:24The first time
17:25the MiG-21 F-13
17:27saw action
17:27in North Vietnam
17:28was on March 6, 1966.
17:32At first,
17:32the North Vietnamese
17:33MiG-21 pilots
17:34engaged enemy aircraft
17:36in traditional dogfights,
17:38like they'd been doing
17:39with the planes
17:39that were flying previously,
17:40the MiG-17.
17:42But that style
17:42didn't really fit
17:43the MiG-21's strengths,
17:45so the North Vietnamese pilots
17:47adopted a new approach.
17:49This method became known
17:50as the ambush tactic.
17:52Guided by ground-based radar,
17:54two MiG-21s would attack
17:55in coordination
17:56with another MiG-21,
17:58trailing two to three miles behind.
18:01The first two MiG-21s
18:02would approach
18:03an enemy formation,
18:04acting as bait.
18:06Once the enemy fighters
18:07engaged in pursuit,
18:09the third MiG-21
18:10joined the fight
18:11by climbing rapidly
18:12from a lower altitude.
18:13Its pilot would position
18:15the aircraft
18:16on the enemy's tail
18:17and engage it
18:18the moment the target
18:19was locked.
18:20The MiG-21's
18:21small frontal profile
18:23made it difficult to detect,
18:24giving enemy pilots
18:25very little time to react.
18:28Because the American F-4s
18:29had their radars
18:30mounted in the nose cone,
18:31it was practically invisible
18:33for them to spot
18:33any MiG-21
18:34that may swing in from behind.
18:37Captain Frederick S. Olmsted Jr.,
18:40who fought
18:40North Vietnamese MiG-21s,
18:42noted that
18:43they were very fast,
18:45very nimble,
18:45and a very capable adversary.
18:48So we were very aware
18:49of what the MiG-21 could do
18:51if you were not careful.
18:54The success of MiG-21s
18:56in battles
18:56against American aircraft
18:58forced the United States
18:59to rethink its approach
19:01to aerial combat
19:01and how it trained its crews.
19:04When coming into land,
19:06the pilot needed to descend
19:07to 1,640 feet
19:09and slow to around
19:11280 miles an hour
19:12before putting
19:13the landing gear down.
19:15When close to the runway,
19:17the pilot would initiate
19:18a flare
19:18by raising the nose
19:19by 10 degrees
19:20to reduce the descent rate.
19:22With the nose pulled up,
19:23the pilot would have
19:24no forward visibility
19:25and would have to estimate
19:26his altitude
19:27by looking around
19:28to his sides.
19:29By the time he landed,
19:31the plane would have slowed
19:32to between 160
19:33and 170 miles an hour.
19:36After touchdown,
19:38the pilot would apply
19:39his wheel brakes
19:39gently
19:40to avoid excessive pressure.
19:42If he deployed his drag chute,
19:44that would slow the plane
19:44more quickly
19:45and it would significantly
19:46shorten the landing distance.
19:48Once the aircraft
19:49slowed enough,
19:50the pilot would disengage
19:52the nose wheel brake
19:53so he could turn the aircraft
19:54while taxiing.
19:55Once the aircraft
19:57was back in position,
19:58the engine would be shut down
19:59by pulling the throttle lever
20:00back to the stop position.
20:03When it was introduced,
20:04the MiG-21 represented
20:05the peak
20:06of Soviet military
20:07aviation technology
20:08and was on par
20:10with its Western counterparts.
20:11However,
20:12the MiG-21 became outdated
20:13as newer aircraft emerged,
20:16largely due to limitations
20:17caused by its small size
20:18that limited radar upgrades,
20:20fuel capacity
20:21and payload capabilities.
20:23Despite these drawbacks,
20:25the MiG-21 remained popular
20:27for smaller air forces
20:28due to its simplicity,
20:30affordability
20:31and ease of maintenance.
20:34It demonstrated
20:35that the right tactics
20:36could provide
20:36a significant advantage
20:38even to less
20:39technologically advanced aircraft.
20:41This made the MiG-21 ideal
20:43for countries
20:44with limited budgets
20:45or other political constraints.
20:48Apart from the Vietnam War,
20:50the MiG-21 has seen service
20:52in many other conflicts
20:53across the globe,
20:54from the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
20:56over the Indo-Pakistani War
20:58and a series of Middle Eastern conflicts
21:01to even the most recent
21:03military engagements.
21:03means.