Indian Air Force plans yet another life extension for its Mig-21 fighter fleet after delays in new inductions and modernization programs...
Indian Air Force plans yet another life extension for its Mig-21 fighter fleet after delays in new inductions and modernization programs.
IAF Chief N K Browne has said during a commanders conference, that all the four variants of Mig-21 fighters will be phased out by 2019-20, against a earlier scheduled 2017 time frame.
Out of the four Mig-21 variants with IAF, the first, Type-77, would be phased out by 2014. The other three variants (Type-96, Type-75 and Bison) would be phased out between 2016 and 2019, Browne said.
IAFs present number of fighter squadron has dwindled to 34 against the sanctioned strength of 45 squadrons. Moreover, the number is likely to reduce further to 31 during 2012-2017.
IAF now aims to increase its combat squadron strength to 40-42 by the end of 2022-27 and eventually to 45 squadrons by 2027-2032 considering the threat perception from both China and Pakistan.
The MiG 21 fleet was to be originally replaced by the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejus, but the fighter is still nowhere close to reaching full operational capabilities.
Mig-21 recently completed 50 years of service with IAF. The Soviet-made fighter played a key role in securing India’s advantage over Pakistan in the 1971 conflict. The Indian Air Force’s MiG-21s shot down four F-104s, two F-6s, one F-86 Sabre and one Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the Pakistan Air Force. The MiG-21s also ensured the Indian Air Force’s aerial advantage above the key combat areas in the Western theater.
By the end of the 1971 war, the MiGs had been recognized as clear winners of dogfights with the F-104 Starfighters.
They proved their worth again during the 1999 Kargil conflict, when the MiGs shot down the Pakistani Navy’s Breguet Atlantique with air-to-air R-60MK (AA-8 Aphid) missiles.
The agreement on the delivery of MiG-21 aircraft to India was signed in 1962, with deliveries commencing in 1963.
In 1967, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) delivered the first Indian built MiG-21 under license from the USSR to the IAF.
A total of 874 Mig-21s were inducted out of which 264 are still flying from 1963 onwards, with the last one rolled out in 1987.
