Strela 921-2000

When a ruthless war east of the Espia rolled on, defense ministers and strategists showed concern over the long-range bombing capability of pact forces invading the neighboring country of Arizova.

In order to intercept these bombers in a potential war, Strela - the country's most advanced aircraft manufacturing company at the time - rushed its Strela 906 supersonic jet prototype to receive modifications enabling it to become a short-range interceptor. The aircraft was below standard. It was lacking a proper combat radar, armament loading, and a severe lack of combat range, leading to the military making a new bid for an interceptor aircraft.

While first looking outwards for a new interceptor aircraft to be exported, the military soon settled for Strela's new bid on the much larger, faster, and longer-range interceptor - the Strela 921. Expanding on the knowledge and lessons learned from the smaller, single-engine Strela 906 - the 921 featured a much more powerful radar, better armament loading capability, record-breaking acceleration and climb speeds paired with excellent maneuverability.

The versatility of the aircraft came into use when mid-life updates resulted in the creation of the Strela 921AUP - a more strike oriented version of the aircraft with full avionics upgrades to the latest standards of the time. The 921AUP was a popular aircraft for export, seeing dozens of orders throughout its service life.

What soon resulted from the development of the 921AUP came the Strela 921-2000. The 2k was the last evolution of the aircraft before its retirement, giving the aircraft an IRST module, a new radar, electronic warfare capabilities and much more. Despite the upgrades, the aircraft was still inferior to the later 4th generation aircraft it was replaced by, leading to the end of its production in the early 90s.

AG1 - Open Radome
AG5 - Wing fold
AG6 - Parachute
AG8 - Landing gear
SLIDER 1 - Flap mechanism