The Mikoyan-Gurevich-21, or MiG-21, was one of the most famous fighter aircraft of the Cold War. It was a Russian-built jet that was never used by the Canadian military, but was in common use by Eastern Bloc, middle eastern and Asian counties. Many of the 10,645 Soviet-built and 2,335 MiG-21s that were built outside of the USSR are still in use today in more than 20 countries.

The MiG-21 was designed as a short-range daylight interceptor and also was used for ground attacks and as a trainer. Ironically, the delta wing design proved to be a big problem, causing the aircraft to lose a significant amount of speed while turning. It also resulted in a strong shift in the centre of gravity once two-thirds of its fuel had been burned, which caused the aircraft to become nearly uncontrollable. Therefore, its success depended heavily on the experience and skill of its pilot. In spite of this, the MiG-21 in all its different variations saw service in more conflicts than any other aircraft, including Vietnam, the Middle East, the Baltic states, India and various African nations.

The MiG-21 in the Museum’s collection is tail number 776. It served in Luftstreitkräfte der Nationalen Volksarmee (East German Air Force; LSK) from May 1975 to September 20, 1990. It served with the following units: Jagdfliegergeschwader 9 ‘Heinrich Rau’ at Peenemunde, Jagdfliegergeschwader 8 ‘Herman Matern’ at Marxwalde and Jagdfliegergeschwader 3 ‘Wladimir Komarov’ at Preschen. During its service with the East German Air Force, it accumulated 1,297 flight hours.

On October 3, 1990, Germany was reunified and the two air forces were merged. This aircraft was taken on strength with the Luftwaffe after unification for a short period of time and given the Luftwaffe serial number 22+45. The aircraft was withdrawn from use in October 1990. It was donated to the Government of Canada by the Government of Germany in 1993. Since it had been disassembled and crated for shipment to CFB Trenton, a five-man civilian air tech team from Rothenburg, Germany, was sent to Canada in mid-September of that year to reassemble the aircraft, and it was repainted with its original serial number 776. The reassembly work was completed in five days. The MiG-21 was transferred to the National Air Force Museum on October 22, 1993.