On 30th November 2024, the Croatian Ministry of Defence officially announced the final operational flight of the MiG-21 fighter of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence (Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo i protuzračna obrana – CroAF). Therefore, the sixty-five years long operational history of that type of aircraft in Europe came to an end.
The MiG-21 supersonic fighter aircraft was developed in the early 1950s and performed its maiden flight on 16th June 1955. The new Soviet jet was for the first time disclosed to public yet in the middle of next year, during the Soviet Aviation Day air show in Moscow.
The aeroplane was designed as a lightweight high-altitude interceptor, capable of exceeding Mach 2 and reaching altitude over 50,000 feet (15,240 metres). The MiG-21 prototypes and specially modernised examples of the aircraft set several aviation records in speed and altitude categories, such as absolute speed record of 2,388 kph at a distance of 15/25 kilometres and speed record of 2,146 kph at a distance of 100 kilometres.
In 1959, the MiG-21 was introduced into operational service in the Soviet Union. Shortly after, it not only became the standard interceptor of the Warsaw Pact countries but was also acquired by air forces of many countries all over the world. Eventually, the total number of its operators exceeded sixty-five states.
The first production variant of the aircraft, the MiG-21F, was followed by almost countless number of variants, modifications and local upgrades. However, three main generations of the aeroplane are commonly recognized – 1957-1961 (the first generation), 1957-1961 (the second generation) and 1961-1966 (the third generation).
Although the peak of the MiG-21 popularity and operational capabilities falls on the 1960s and 1970s, the fighter was in active service with many air forces still during the first decade of the 21st century. Moreover, the aircraft made it until the 2020s in such European countries as Croatia, Romania and Serbia.
The Serbian MiG-21s were officially retired in May of 2021 (A farewell to legendary fighter aircraft). Romania withdrawn its LanceR variant of the aircraft only in May of 2023 (MiG-21 LanceR – end of the tale). And, finally, Croatia did the same in May of 2024. At least officially, although the MiG-21 fighters of the CroAF remained operational (to some extent) until November of that year.
Nevertheless, the MiG-21 reportedly remains in operational service with more than ten air forces outside Europe. The list includes Angola, Cuba, Guinea, India, Mozambique and North Korea. However, due to limited possibility to receive reliable information from most of those countries, the number and condition of the MiG-21 aircraft in their inventory can only be speculated.
It is also worth to mention that during more than six decades of its operational history, the MiG-21 participated in several wars and conflicts all over the world. Among them were the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, the Vietnam War, Arab-Israeli conflicts, Iran-Iraq War, wars in Libya, Ethiopia and Somalia.
More of a dozen pilots achieved the air ace status while flying the MiG-21. Nguyễn Văn Cốc of the Vietnamese Air Force is usually considered the most successful one, with nine air victories scored during the Vietnam War. Nevertheless, several other Vietnamese pilots achieved five or more enemy aircraft shot down, as well as – reportedly – a few Syrian, Egyptian and Iraqi pilots.
According to the Croatian Ministry of Defence, the last operational flight of the MiG-21 in Europe took place on 30th November 2024. Starting from the 1st December, the QRA duty over Croatia was taken over by Italian Eurofighter and Hungarian Gripen fighter aircraft, within the NATO Air Policing programme.
Protection of the Croatian airspace by the Italian and Hungarian air forces is expected to be continued until the turn of 2025/2026. At that time, Dassault Rafale, the CroAF new fighter aircraft, should become operational and able to take over the QRA duties on its own (more about the Rafale acquirement in our articles First Rafale fighter handed over to Croatian Air Force and Croatia receives the seventh Rafale fighter).
For more information about the MiG-21 fighter, please refer to our previous articles focused on that type of aircraft:
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21UM
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF LanceR C
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21UM
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21(MF-75) LanceR C
Cover photo: Croatian MiG-21s, 2020, illustrative photo (© Ministarstvo obrane Republike Hrvatske). Information from official press releases of the Croatian MoD were used. U.S. Department of Defence information materials were used, in compliance with Public Domain licence.
