Editing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (section)

===Origins===
The MiG-21 jet fighter was a continuation of Soviet jet fighters, starting with the subsonic [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15|MiG-15]] and [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17|MiG-17]], and the supersonic [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19|MiG-19]]. A number of experimental [[Mach number|Mach]] 2 Soviet designs were based on nose intakes with either [[Swept wing|swept-back wings]], such as the [[Sukhoi Su-7]], or tailed [[delta wing|deltas]], of which the MiG-21 would be the most successful.

Development of what would become the MiG-21 began in the early 1950s when [[Mikoyan]] OKB finished a preliminary design study for a [[prototype]] designated Ye-1 in 1954. This project was very quickly reworked when it was determined that the planned engine was underpowered; the redesign led to the second prototype, the Ye-2. Both these and other early prototypes featured swept wings. The first prototype with the [[delta wings]] found on production variants was the Ye-4. It made its maiden flight on 16 June 1955 and its first public appearance during the [[Soviet Aviation Day|Soviet Aviation Day display]] at Moscow's [[Tushino airfield]] in July 1956.

In the West, due to the lack of available information, early details of the MiG-21 often were confused with those of similar Soviet fighters of the era. In one instance, ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1960–1961'' listed the "Fishbed" as a [[Sukhoi Design Bureau|Sukhoi design]] and used an illustration of the [[Sukhoi Su-9|Su-9 'Fishpot']].