quote:

I know in the pilot's handbook it states that the airspeed limits are as follows:
1100 km/h below 37,000 ft.
and
Less than Mach 1.5 between 37,000 to 50,000 ft.

Right, that's original MiG-21UM Flight Manual recommendation.

quote:


Which translates into the fact that it will never go over mach 1.6 without either overspeeding or the severe yaw/rocking problem.

That's not a LIMITATION but RECOMMENDATION.
quote:


My question is will this plane ever reach the speed it was designed to reach (mach 2.04 or somewhere near it)?
Easy. We've just rechecked it goes M=2.05+ at 15,000m and it can go faster but it shouldn't.