Why The World’s Most-Produced Fighter Jet May Finally Disappear In 2026

The Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is famously the most produced jet fighter in history. The MiG-21 Fishbed is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft that first flew in 1955 and entered service in 1959. An impressive 11,496 examples were built, mostly in the USSR, but also under license in India and Czechoslovakia. The aircraft competed with the more durable Northrop F-5 as an affordable light fighter.