[hyair]

The two fighters entered service at the same period (1958- 1959 ). However as the mig 21 became the mainstay fighter of USSR the F-104 wasn't popular with the USAF. The first version of the mig - the f13 was widely exported to many alied nations while the 104 wone the Europeian contract for multipurpose fighter capable of mach 2 .0 . In 1965 during the Indo-Pakistan conflict the 2 saw some limited dogfights
and it appears that Indian mig 21's had better results by shooting down 2 F-104.
In Vietnam the mig 21 started to appear in late 1966 and was a treat to the main American fighters f-105 Thud and f-4 Phantom. The F-104 was deployed to Vietnam at the same period but didn't score any victories. At the same time the German airforce had many accidents with the F-104
and earned the name "vidow maker".
As the time pass history proved that the mig 21 was a much better plane.
In terms of performance they are more or less simillar with higher speed of mach 2.2
to the F-104 and better manuverability for the mig 21. As no F-104 in service today plenty of mig 21 are still used today by many air forces.
Two models of mig 21 of GPM vs F-104 of Wilhelmshavener models both in 1:48 scale are posing side by side.

Yair