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

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

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	16000	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

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Armaments

Offensive armament

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

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

Suspended armament

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

The MiG-21SMT carries on a number of characteristics of its predecessor MiG-21F-13 however it trades a few advantages mainly the immediate manoeuvrability pulling hard turns quickly, rear visibility from the cockpit is also reduced. However, it gains greatly improved thrust, acceleration, rate of climb, energy retention and double the number of weapon hardpoints. Being primarily a fighter-interceptor it easily maintains high speeds in a straight line. Improved thrust now allows the pilot to accelerate during a climb up to 30° from the deck at 1,000 into 1,100+ km/h. However steep vertical manoeuvres as used in the MiG-19 are ill-advised. The new radar allows pilots to pick up a distant target while climbing into medium-high altitudes. R-60 excels at intercepting aircraft where other missiles are incapable including those performing high-G manoeuvres to evade or those who are relative to you in the side aspect. Enemy aircraft performing steep vertical manoeuvres or are low on energy will struggle to escape it.

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".

Pros:

• Highest thrust of all MiG-21 variants
• 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

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

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

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.