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After having served for half a century as the mainstay Indian combat aircraft, the much maligned MiG 21 fighters may get yet another life extension due to delays in modernisation programmes of the Indian Air Force.
The IAF, which celebrated 50 years of the MiG 21 in its service with a book release function by Air Chief N A K Browne, has said that 264 fighters continue to remain in service and may even be part of the active fleet till 2018-19.
This is a two-year extension in service of the fighters — upgraded several times — that were scheduled to retire by 2017, as per Defence Ministry statements.
The extension of two years, at a time when the focus has returned on their poor safety record due to a large number of accidents, will most likely not be for the entire MiG 21 fleet, but the Bison variant.
The MiG 21 fleet was to be originally replaced by the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), but with the indigenous fighter still nowhere close to reaching full operational capabilities, the IAF had opted for a medium combat aircraft contest that has been won by Rafale. However, with a contract yet to be signed, it may take at least four years for the first of the new fighters to come in.
Speaking at a function after releasing the book “First to the Last: 50 years of MiG -215 with the IAF” by Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar (retd) and Pushpinder Singh, Air Chief Browne said the MiG 21 fleet still forms a major chunk of the IAF fighter strength. He pointed out that out of the 874 aircraft ordered by the IAF, 264 are still flying and has always had an ‘aggressive edge’.
Several serving and retired IAF personnel who have flow the fighters over the last 50 years were present at the function that took place here. Also present were Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin and Sergey Korotkov, Director General RAC (MiG), who lead a team of officials from the aircraft manufacturer.
IAF to delay retirements of Mig-21 by two years | idrw.org
