Why did Finland have Soviet MiG-21s? 

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The finnish balancing act was soo balanced that they had both jets.

He's not a robot.....this changes everything

Another reason for Soviets' offer was that western powers had, up to that time, occasionally used Finnish airspace for their reconnaissance flights. So it was in Soviets' interest to secure their western flank with a neutral country, that could defend their own airspace if need be. There was also an interesting complication with the plane deal: the Paris Peace Treaty, which Finland had signed after the WWII with Soviet Union and the Western Allies, forbade Finland for having missile technology. The peace treaty was re-interpreted in such a way that Mig-21 was considered an interceptor and the missiles it would carry were defensive in nature. Hence the missile armament was in line with the limitations of the treaty.

- "Dimitri, how many vodkas did we have in the sauna last night?" - "I don't know Yuri, but you promised the Finns a shitload of MiGs if they could drink more then you." and the rest is history.

My mate was an airframe technician in the Finnish airforce and worked on the MiG21s. He said the Mig21s were good value, as each aircraft came with a container with enough spares to virtually build another aircraft and that the thing was designed to be maintained by two old ladies with a screwdriver!* OK, that was a joke, but he was just commenting how easy it was to keep it flying.

60+ years old and it still looks very nice.

So thats what you look like!

I visited the Bucarest air museum, when I was very young, and it was really impressive. Dozens of Mig-21s, Su-22s, and even a big Mig-29, just rusting outside. And in the backyard of the army museum, there was also a Mig-17. No wires or guardians whatsoever, you could approach the planes very close. For the 10 or 12 years old lil' girl I was, that was so impressive.

Fun fact: Finns noticed that American Sidewinder missiles were interchangeable with Russian Atolls... Finns had both. Sidewinders were meant for Draken (and BAE Systems Hawk) and Atolls for MiG-21.

President keskonen :DDDDD Keskonen means a baby that was born too early

A 'little' crisis in cuba

Great video! Finland has a fascinating military /political history.

Points for Mr. Bismarck for knowing the difference between the old air force swastika and the other one that had nothing to do with it, but still caused them to change it to a circle.

Dude you can say swastika, it's not a swear word

Fascinating tour of the Finnish Mig-21! Good show! Thanks!

When I was on the Tikkakoski Air Force base in 2000/2001 there were a bunch of junk Mig-21's standing there taking space, and the officers were saying more or less jokingly that if we took it away on our own we could have one, or more for that matter. Would have been one weird lawn ornament hehehe.

Very interesting; was nice to get an up close look at this aircraft.

Keep in mind that pilots inherently have a higher chance of cancer due to higher radiation levels at altitude, meaning those Finnish pilots who died of cancer probably didn't suffer their fate because of an nuke detonated so far away.

Incredible video..Thank you so much for your videos too..

Great video! Ive always been interested in the MIG-21 and been really curious how Finland managed to get them!

another top class video. Youre the man. thanks, and best regards from... yes... FINLAND :-)

MIG-21 : AK-47 OF COMBAT JETS!

I was at that museum looking at that very plane just a couple of weeks ago. Thank you for giving some backstory!

Turns out buying weapons from your neighbours is a good way to stop them from invading you.

The finnish air force tested putting an AIM-9B sidewinder on the rail of an AA-2 Atol and it worked, the AA-2 is a soviet copy of the sidewinder built from stolen drawings.

I live so near that place :) so nice that you visited Finland

I love the MIG 21. I highly respect Finland due to it's resistance to Russia in the Second World War. I own a M-39 rifle made from the Russian Moysant-Nagant. One of the best variations in 7.62x54r. The Finns walked a tightrope to not anger Russia yet keep as much independence as possible after the war.

Great video! I knew Finland had MiG-21s, but I had never really thought about the timeframe. But the pilots training around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis... that certainly puts things in perspective.

Beautiful plane, my favorite aircraft of all time actually

thank you so much for this vid! It has been a pleasure to hear so many interesting (and unknown, at least for me!) things! Cheers from Italy!

Hmm... You gave me the idea to write an article about Finnish MiG-21s for the Hungarian aviation magazine Aranysas (Golden Eagle). Thanks. :)

Thank you for explaining this intetesting little piece of aviation history.

Your hair is... German

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing!

Yuguslavia recieved its first Mig 21 (5) in September 1962 and Yugoslavia was not part of Warshaw pact.

That's really one interesting bit of aviation history! Never knew about that, so thanks for teaching me more knowledge I can use for showing off! 😉😃

Hey, can you talk about Fw-190s and Spitfires flying side by side in Turkish Air Force? Turkey was in a peculiar spot during WW2 like the Finns were during the cold war.

Thank you for this. I love Suomi, the former CCCP and aviation. This was fascinating. :):):)

actually, in early 1960s Indonesia, received a total of more than 100 MiG-15, 17, 19, and 21 also IL-28 and TU-16 and many eastern friendly nations also received similar equipment

Amazing videos man. You're extremely informational. I Use to play FA-18 Kuwait and Korea when I was a kid. Your flight simulation videos are tops. Great channel.

We still have it and use it in Romania,very good aircraft! ;)

Nice video man! Best regards from Brazil!

He's actually quite good looking....

Great video ! Something that I actually didn't know. Keep on good work !!

Very interesting. You have a good delivery style - I enjoyed listening to you.

Phew. there's shit ton of all migs standing everywhere in Poland, not only in museums xd

Thanks for this interesting and informative video! Always good to learn some old history!

The swastika is still used in the military parade flag.

I really enjoyed this new format! I encourage you to make more military, technological, and historical analysis videos like this! Thanks, +Bismarck for another fine production! :)

So when are you looking at DCS MiG-21?

You made my day man! Awesome work! 👍

You look waaaay younger than I thought you where.

Thanks for the video, a very interesting piece of history.

That's a late model mig21 behind him though !

Excellent informative and well presented series...

In the West, we had the pejorative term "Finlandization" to characterize the relationship of Finland to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. As long as Finland remained neutral between the NATO and Warsaw Pact, as long as Finland didn't irritate the USSR in any way, the Soviet Union left Finland alone. Actually, Austria was in the exact same situation, but no one talks about the "Austria-ization" of a country! This status was also offered to Adenauer in West Germany if he would not make Germany a member of NATO. The Russians even dangled the enticement of reunification with East Germany! Adenauer said no.

This is an awesome piece of history!

It feels like the balancing act between east and west is still going on in finnish foreign politics. Even more so recently. Fortunately our current president Niinistö is a great diplomat like Kekkonen was back then

Wow......amazing thanks for posting 😊

Rather an interesting story. The Finnish did have a decent bit of Soviet hardware. I own a Soviet model tanker's helmet that has Lieutenant's name in it in it, the name itself is Swedish and I believe it is one of the Soviet model tank helmets that were in service with the Finnish tank forces.

Awesome 👍 Superb👌 Fully Informative video

Of course it helped that the MIG-21 was the finest aircraft of its time.

Thanks. Very interesting. Good storytelling!! Cheers from the USA

Nice video, interesting story, well presented. Good supporting images. Superb English, decent enough accent (not too American!). Thanks!

It's always cool to finally see up close a piece of aviation history that you've only read or seen videos about.

Endlich sieht man mal das Gesicht zu diesem wunderbaren deutschen Akzent :P

Fascinating bit of aviation history.

Bis, little konstruktive Kritik: aircraft has no Plural. ;) Still a great vid tho!

Excellent work, I always enjoy your informative / history videos. I know you're more into WW2 era aircraft, the Mig-21 is a very special & significant aircraft and if you ever want to try one out (in virtual space of course), DCS' Mig-21bis module is an outstanding example of modern flight simulation, vodka-powered (/s) radar and all.

will there be something about Saab 35 Draken eventually?

I remember as a kid when my family were flying home to Helsinki from Rovaniemi that about 10 Mig-21's took of from the airport, oh that sound!

One of the other reasons why the Soviets might have been willing to provide their state of the art fighter to the Finns, is that following the Winter and Continuation Wars the Soviets and Finns had agreed a treaty that limited the number of front line aircraft that the Finnish Air Force could deploy (121 if I remember correctly). The Finns therefore required very capable aircraft to be able to fulfill their mission. As the Soviets did not want Finland to become more friendly with the Western allies, they had to accept either Finland exceeding the number of permitted fighters - and allowing the treaty to lapse - or using Western aircraft (I would think the USA would have been eager to sell F-5 Freedom Fighters if the Swedes would not sell their new Drakens - as they might not want someone with ties to the Soviets to operate aircraft they might consider an opponent) or providing an export version of their own best fighter. It should be noted that while Finland had MiG 21's, they did not seem to have shared too much information with the West - NATO had to acquire Fishbed's from other sources..It seems that the Soviets got their priorities right.

Very interesting video, I had no idea that Finland was the first country outside Soviet Union to have MIG-21...

Fantastic story, I've listened, even though I have no time. The reason why Finland has such a good economy is because the Soviet Union DIDN'T MANAGE TO COUNQUER THEM! Look how the Russians have destroyed countries like Poland for example (which has good economic progress since the end of Soviet control). Btw. Poland started using Mig-21 in 1963. Great machine, very fast and very loud!

I’m not an expert but I would guess they were A very good value for Finland. Much less expensive than an American fighter. Very fast I believe some were capable of Mach 2. And carried a decent weapons load. Not to mention built like a tank.

Yeah well Finland lives right next to the bear, they have made an art out of bowing to the east without mooning the west. :P

What really happened in early 60's was, that Finland was about to aqcuire modern jets. So test pilots checqued at least Mirage III and Hawker Hunter (!). I have personally heard this from col Lauri Pekuri ( fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauri_Pekuri ) who was a WWII ace (18½) and even was shot twice down. He was one of the test pilots. Finland already was strongly leaning to west, having aqcuired DH Vampires and Folland Gnats. But then Soviet Union, seeing what Finland was about to do, made an offer (at a cocktail party in the Soviet Embassy) that was irresistible. After all, they offered a worlds best first class fighter at that time, with low price. And that was decisive.

Never heard of F.J. Strauß: "Finnlandisierung" ?

Thank you for answering the question to why Finland I had the mid 21 when it was not part of the Warsaw Pact. That's what always deeply interested me as a former lover of aviation in the history of aviation

Here's the reason: if the Finns happen to get invaded again, they'll know how to use all the aircraft that Russia throws at them. //Joke

Beautiful short documentary, very interesting to know of the Mig 21 in the Finish airforce

Why did you call your channel „Bismarck“? Are you particularly fascinated by this influential historical man? Or do you just like the name? Or is it an ideological thing?

Much better description than Discovery Channel and History Channel together hahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

MIG21 was a good 2nd generation jet. Nothing special, as most of them didn't even take off during the 2 Gulf-Wars and the 2 Arab - Israeli Wars. The Soviet era weapons were usually in the wrong hands, which brought about a major publicity failure.

Great looking jet, thank you.

Mig 21 is famous 😂 now but everyone is not abhinandan who can destroy f16 lolz

wery good video. It is cool that you explain some things about Finnish air force. It would be cool if you inform us before your next visit in Finland :D

You are a great storyteller

It'd be interesting to know how the Mig 21 performed against the Draken in training exercises.

I think that the MiG 21s are still one of the best looking jets ever made.

Thanks for that back story👍🏾

I should play Finland in EU4

Great and very informative video, well done.

Yay I love this channel

Great video. Keep up the good work!

P R E S I D E N T _ K E K

I just read an article about Canada did purchase about 30 or more MIG 21 in the 60’ too. The MIG 21 shipped to Canada were also so sparkling new straight from the factory in Russia to Canada right after assembly !!! Very interesting read indeed !!! :))) Politics always comes first then comes the war !!!

May I also suggest putting the camera on a stand/tripod or something stable in the future. I got kinda seasick of watching your hand shake around the camera while you walked in circles around the plane. Really nice video and cool story tho!

you are a brilliant storyteller