The MiG-21 Fishbed Has Flown for an Astoundingly Long Time
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Don t Count the Russian MiG-21 Out
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Could the plane live to age 100?
Here s What You Need to Know: The MiG-21 currently serves in eighteen air forces worldwide, including two members of NATO.
Military aircraft can have notoriously short lifespans, especially during periods of technological ferment. The most elite aircraft of World War I could become obsolete in a matter of months. Things weren’t much different in World War II. And at the dawn of the jet age, entire fleets of aircraft became passé as technologies matured. The advanced fighters that fought in the skies over Korea became junk just a few years later.
But a few designs stand the test of the time. The B-52 Stratofortress first flew in 1952, yet remains in service today. New C-130s continue to roll off the production line, based on a design that became operational in 1954.