MiG-21SMT

MiG-21SMT

MiG-21F-13

MiG-21bis

MiG-21SMT

MiG-21F-13

MiG-21bis

USSR

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

The MiG-21SMT is a rank VII Soviet jet fighter with a battle rating of 10.3 (AB) and 10.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.95 "Northern Wind".

General info

Flight performance

As an evolution of the previous MiG-21 F-13, MiG-21 SMT inherits some flight characteristics of its older sibling.

Both of them can pull high AoA, which enables its pilot to easily get guns on target at the cost of extreme speed loss. Both of them are light aircraft which enables them to climb with ease. And both of them have high wing loading, which will hinder maneuverability, particularly at high altitudes. However, that's where the similarities end, as MiG-21 SMT comes with upgrades, most notably removed armor which shaved 500kg off its scale, and an uprated engine, the R-13F-300, which outputs 5722 kgf, 700 more than R-11F-300 on MiG-21 F-13. In practice, this means that MiG-21 SMT is best in class when it comes to acceleration and climb performance.

Maneuverability wise, SMT is extremely nimble at lower altitudes, where its high AoA can outweigh its high wing load, and high acceleration can mitigate speed loss, allowing it to pull hard turns, provided the pilot monitors the speed. At high altitudes, the story is different, as it proves to be very unresponsive, leaving the user vulnerable to attacks, particularly to missiles. One more characteristic any prospecting user should note is that the aircraft tends to break its wings beyond 11G, and considering MiG-21 SMT will merrily pull over 12G at high speed turns if the boosters modification is equipped, unequiping it may help if the pilot has trouble with wings ripping.

When it comes to raw straight line speed, MiG-21 SMT can get to its top speed much faster than its contemporary fighters at any altitude. In fact, speed should always be monitored, as it can easily reach its relatively high wing speed limit of ~1300kmh IAS, even at level flight. High acceleration and high top speed means that MiG-21 SMT is more than able to intercept almost any target, the only exception being F-4C that is already sitting at its top speed. One more notable feature is that due to its low weight and high thrust, energy management is a breeze and the aircraft will quickly both lose and gain speed, which may prove useful when trying to stay on the target's back.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 13,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	2180	2152	16,000	36.7	37.6	136.4	126.9	750
Upgraded	2318	2240		35.4	36.0	196.3	165.0

Details

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

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
		550	___	450	~11	~6

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 650	< 600	< 780	N/A

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
0 m	3,840 kgf	5,722 kgf

Survivability and armour

MiG-21 SMT is a light fighter, and its survivability reflects that. It lacks armor and the airframe is fragile. On top of it all, MiG-21 in general has a very unstable airframe, which means that any changes to its aerodynamic properties may make it difficult to control. Exercise caution when flying it.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The MiG-21SMT is outfitted with the following offensive weapons:

• 1 x 23 mm GSh-23L autocannon (200 RPG)

Suspended armament

MiG-21 SMT can be armed with both anti-air missiles and ground strike ordinance on its 4 pylons under the wing. While most of the weapons can be seen on other aircraft, the unique weapon that this aircraft can carry is R-60 IR air-to-air missile. Compared to R-3S which can be found on most Russian aircraft capable of launching missiles, R-60 has a much more sophisticated IR tracking system, allowing it to track targets up to 5km away, and keep them on its sights at a much faster pace, which results in a reliable lock that not many targets can shake off. R-60 can also be fired in a wider range of situations, as the missile can track targets while on the pylon, which means that the missile has a much higher launch load factor and is able to intercept targets immediately after being launched, unlike R-3S which tracks targets only half a second after launch, and needs the platform to stay still in order to track the target, leaving the aircraft vulnerable to attacks. R-60 is a much smaller missile than R-3S, weighing at 44 kg instead of 77kg that a R-3S weighs. Missile payload is also significantly smaller, weighing at 3.5kg. Rocket motors on R-60 are much smaller than on R-3S, and means that R-60 is much slower than R-3S, and even though it can lock on targets at 5km, it has a lower range than R-3S. In practice, R-60 is a reliable and potent anti aircraft weapon that excels at taking out even nimble targets in dogfights at ranges from 300m to 2km, but is unable to reach targets beyond 3km due to its less powerful rocket motors. R-3S, however, can only be used reliably at targets that aren't paying attention or are unable to react to a missile, but they can also be used to intercept targets at much further ranges than R-60.

When it comes to dumb-fire rockets, MiG-21 SMT can carry S-5K 55mm rockets and S-24 240mm rockets. S-5K have a small warhead that is able to penetrate 150mm of armor at 0°. However, due to their small warhead they need a direct hit on the target in order to do any damage, and even if they do connect, the damage is minimal to any armored target. S-24, though, is a 235kg behemoth, capable of taking out most targets with a single hit.

The MiG-21SMT can be outfitted with the following suspended ordnance:

• Without load
• 64 x S-5K unguided rockets
• 96 x S-5K unguided rockets
• 4 x S-24 unguided rockets
• 4 x R-3S air-to-air missiles
• 4 x R-60 air-to-air missiles
• 2 x R-35 air-to-air missiles + 64 x S-5K unguided rockets
• 2 x R-60 air-to-air missiles + 64 x S-5K unguided rockets
• 2 x R-35 air-to-air missiles + 2 x S-24 unguided rockets
• 2 x R-60 air-to-air missiles + 2 x S-24 unguided rockets
• 4 x 250 kg OFAB-250-270 bombs (1,000 kg total)
• 2 x 500 kg FAB-500M-54 bombs (1,000 kg total)
• 2 x R-3S air-to-air missiles + 2 x 250 kg OFAB-250-270 bombs
• 2 x R-60 air-to-air missiles + 2 x 250 kg OFAB-250-270 bombs

Usage in battles

Combining its ability to pull high AoA on demand, excellent acceleration, high top speed and powerful dogfighting weaponry, MiG-21 SMT is a potent air superiority dogfighter. It allows the pilot to intercept any target, quickly get on its back and stay there, while also giving the user a safety net in the shape of its acceleration that enables it to break from any engagement with ease. If the pilot is feeling less adventurous, a slow and methodical boom and zoom attrition on the enemy air targets is also a possibility. However, it should be noted that at high altitudes, the aircraft is not responsive due to its high wing load and may pose an easy target to more nimble foes. While MiG-21 SMT can handle air targets with ease, ground targets may pose more of a problem, due to its lackluster ground attack weaponry, fragile airframe and its low turn rate which may spell doom for its user trying to pull from a dive. Not all is lost, as it still has access to S-24 rockets, which can easily crack even the most hardened ground target.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High thrust-to-weight ratio
• Excellent acceleration from 1,000 - 1,200 kph
• R-60 missile is second highest G loading missile in-game (can lock on in some side aspect scenarios)
• Maintains speed in turns better than MiG-21 F-13
• Much higher rate of fire than earlier cannon-armed Soviet jets

Cons:

• Belly-mounted cannon can cause shots to go lower than expected
• Less agile than other MiG-21 variants
• Extra care on takeoff and landing must be taken to prevent the ventral fin from hitting the runway
• Using afterburner on the deck can cause the airframe to overspeed and rip near 1,300 kph
• R-60 has less explosive mass than R-3S
• Radar is of shorter range than most competitors

History

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Media

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See also

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• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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