IAF to keep MiG-21 until 2019

[Armand2REP]

Indian Air Force will extend the life of the MiG-21 to 2019

TSAMTO, April 29. The delay in the acquisition of multi-role combat aircraft for the MMRCA and LCA forces the Air Force of India to extend the operation of a fleet of 120 MiG-21 until 2019.


According to "Jane's Defense Weekly," referring to the statement by the commander of Air Force Air Marshal N.A.K.Brauna, delayed development program light combat aircraft LCA «Tejas" and procedures for the acquisition of 126 fighters "Rafale" have led to the need to maintain armed MiG- 21 for over two years before the target date (2017).


At the request of the commander, from 1964 to the Indian Air Force acquired 874 MiG-21 aircraft of various types, 264 of which are still in service. In August 2011, India's Ministry of Defense announced that all MiG-21 will be retired by 2017. However, the postponement of the initial readiness for combat use LCA for three years (until the end of 2103) and the absence of a contract for the supply of "Rafale" have led to the fact that part of the aircraft, upgraded to the version of the MiG-21bis with a multi-mode radar "Super Spear" and the French inertial navigation system Totem 221G, will remain in service until 2019.


Referring to other programs, the Air Force commander said that three of the 69 MiG-29, upgraded in Russia in the framework of the signed in 2009 a contract worth 964 million dollars have been transferred to India. Another three cars will arrive by the end of 2013. The remaining 63 MiG-29s will be upgraded in the enterprise, "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited» (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) in Nasik. They will be equipped with new engines RD-33MK, "Zhuk-ME" and long-range missiles R-77 class "air-to-air."

ВВС Индии продлят срок эксплуатации истребителей МиГ-21 до 2019 года - ВПК.name

 

[JBH22]

Going by the current state we may even continue to flog the MIG-21 beyond 2020.
When other countries would be moving to UCAV we would still have our old trusty MIG-21.

 

[pankaj nema]

Dont berate the Mig 21 BISON

We need the numbers for a two front war And Mig 21 gives us the numbers that we need

Mig 21 can carry and fire FOUR R 77 BVRAAM

It will knock out the Paki F 16 s and JF 17

 

[JBH22]

Dont berate the Mig 21 BISON

We need the numbers for a two front war And Mig 21 gives us the numbers that we need

Mig 21 can carry and fire FOUR R 77 BVRAAM

It will knock out the Paki F 16 s and JF 17

How long can we live in this delusion!!

It was a good aircraft and its days are long over, by now MRCA should have materialised but alas.

 

[p2prada]

Most of the Mig-21s are grounded anyway. I don't have figures but I guess they fly less than half compared to other jets.

They can push it a bit more by reducing the flying hours.

 

[Armand2REP]

Dont berate the Mig 21 BISON

We need the numbers for a two front war And Mig 21 gives us the numbers that we need

Mig 21 can carry and fire FOUR R 77 BVRAAM

It will knock out the Paki F 16 s and JF 17

It might last the first week of combat, but then they will all be grounded. How many flight hours are left on these frames, probably in the hundreds.

 

[Snuggy321]

How long can we live in this delusion!!

It was a good aircraft and its days are long over, by now MRCA should have materialised but alas.

Bisons have been upgraded heavily and are definitely a force to reckon with. Our potential enemies heavily use Mig 21 copies and we need their numbers as well.

These planes are quite useful as point defence fighters.

 

[rock127]

Sure... extend Mig21 till 2091 while delaying the MMRCA deals till 2091.

 

[Austin]

IAF chief recently stated that there were some 280 Mig-21 still flying.

Any one interested in history of Mig-21 in IAF service , Air Marshal P Rajkumar ( retd ) has recently released a book on it

First to the Last: 50 years of MiG-21s with the IAF
Author: Air Marshal P Rajkumar & Pushpindar Singh

Lancer Publishers Online Bookshop

 

[badguy2000]

well,plaaf still has lots of j7

 

[W.G.Ewald]

According to "Jane's Defense Weekly," referring to the statement by the commander of Air Force Air Marshal N.A.K.Brauna, delayed development program light combat aircraft LCA «Tejas" and procedures for the acquisition of 126 fighters "Rafale" have led to the need to maintain armed MiG- 21 for over two years before the target date (2017).

I have read elsewhere a target date in 2015; it seems continually pushed back.

Going by the current state we may even continue to flog the MIG-21 beyond 2020.
When other countries would be moving to UCAV we would still have our old trusty MIG-21.

It would not be surprising.

 

[Waffen SS]

So,MiG 21 will be in service 2019,but at cost of how many pilots?

What amazes me that is,MiG 23 is better than MiG 21,but Indian Air force phased out MiG 23 instead of MiG 21?!Why,any reply?

 

[Blackwater]

Indian Air Force will extend the life of the MiG-21 to 2019

typing mistake its 2119

 

[JBH22]

So,MiG 21 will be in service 2019,but at cost of how many pilots?

What amazes me that is,MiG 23 is better than MiG 21,but Indian Air force phased out MiG 23 instead of MiG 21?!Why,any reply?

MIG-23 was a CAS aircraft and with its single engine that was structurally deficient.

MIG-21 remains the backbone of the IAF.

 

[Blackwater]

well,plaaf still has lots of j7

you mean illegally copied MIG -21

 

[AVERAGE INDIAN]

Lets talk about the spec's of bison's , so here are the upgrade specifications of the MiG-21 Bison of IAF :

The upgrade consists of Super Kopyo X-band pulse Doppler radar and RVV-AE (AA-12 Adder) beyond visual range missiles and PGMs., new nosecone, new canopy, single-piece windshield and new canopy made of stressed acrylic composites, Sextant's TOTEM RLG-INS with NSS-100P GPS embedded GPS receivers, El-Op HUD, infrared search and track system (IRST) from Russia's URALs optical-mechanical plant, two Sextant MFD-55 LCD displays, autopilot, radar warning receivers (RWR), digital flight data recorder, new liquid air cooling system, HOTAS controls, stores management system, digital air data computer system, short range radio navigation system, new HF/VHF/UHF radios, twin conformal Vympel flare dispensers (26mm, 120 rounds) and a new electric power supply system. Reportedly the new RWR to be fitted, is an indigenous system developed by DRDO and goes by the name Tarang. A modified version of this RWR will be used aboard the Su-30MKI.

That is not all, apart from carrying the deadly AA-11 "Archer" that arms the MiG-29 and longer range AA-10 Alamo BVR AAMs, Bison pilots will have the SURA helmet mounted sight, used by Flanker pilots. Now with this combination, it would mean that the MiG-21, flying faster than all F-16 variants would "schlemm" an F-16's on the western border.

as a Mach 2 platform for launching BVR AAMs with Active Radar is what makes the MiG-21 a serious threat to almost any modern fighter.

In retrospect, it still is the good old 'Sabre era MiG' with modern fire controls, BVR missile with active-radar seeker upgrades that lived on to dogfight F -16s and Mirages. Even during Cope India 2004 in DACT many F -15 pilots did confess and say it were the dozen odd BVR capable IAF MiG-21s buzzing around at Mach 2 that gave them a real hard time. These were the modernized 'Bison' versions the IAF flies whose weapons and avionics suits coupled with their Mach 2 speed pose a serious threat to any 4th or 4.5th generation fighter

BUT I DO AGREE ITS NOT THE MACHINE BUT THE MAN BEHIND IT WHICH MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

 

[The Last Stand]

well,plaaf still has lots of j7

badguy bhai,

Your J-7 were produced continuously from 70's to 90's. The service fighters in PLAAF are now 20 years old or so. Our MiG-21's are atleast 45 years old. Lot of difference.

 

[happy]

India will continue to operate the MiG-21 fighters until 2025

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will not be able to abandon using its MiG-21 fighters until 2025, because of the delays in signing an agreement for the supply of the medium multi-role combat Rafale fighters and production of the indigenous Tejas aircraft, The Times of India said.
110 Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighters were upgraded in 2006 to MiG-21 Bison. It was earlier reported that India would completely phase them out by 2018-1019.
According to IAF calculations, by 2022, 42 fighter squadrons will be at its disposal, compared to 34 units at the moment. It was assumed that the Rafale would replace the MiG-21, but due to the fact that an agreement to supply them has not been signed until now, India will start to replace the MiG-21 fighters with the Russian Su- 30MKI. To date, it has put into service more than 170 Su- 30MKI aircrafts out of the 272 ordered from Russia. By 2017, 14 squadrons of these fighters will be based in India. On Friday, IAF chief Anil Kumar Browne said that the first Rafale will come to India no earlier than 2017.

The French company Dassault which produces the Rafale, won the tender in January 2012. As per the terms of the tender, the winner invests half of the amount paid for the aircraft into the production of fighter jets in India. About 110 Rafale aircrafts should be made by the India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), while only the first 18 are to be made directly by the supplier company and delivered assembled. The value of the deal was originally estimated at $10 billion, but the Rafales are likely to cost India more than $20 billion.
In April, India celebrated the 50th anniversary since the start of deliveries of the Soviet MiG-21. The agreement was signed in 1962, but the deliveries began a year later. In 1967, HAL manufactured the first MiG-21 under a license obtained from the Soviet Union. More than 260 of these fighters are still in service.

India will continue to operate the MiG-21 fighters until 2025 | Russia & India Report

 

[rugved]

The MiG 21s were to be decommissioned by 2000 and now the IAF plans to keep them till 2025? Superb! Thanks to the further delay in the finalisation of the Dassault Rafale deal, consider the expiry date to not be sooner than 2035.

 

[rugved]

Mig-21 = Flying coffin.