Read Time: 07 minutes

A representation letter addressing to Hon’ble Prime Minister has been mailed by Advocate(s) Satyam Singh, Amit Kumar Sharma and Law Student Ayush Kumar Upadhyay requesting for the discontinuance of MIG 21 aircraft from Indian Air Force.

The letter stated that, the MiG series fighter aircraft have been the backbone of the Indian Air Force for the last 50 years. The Indian Air Force has received more than 850 MIG fighter aircraft since the year 1960. Not only this, these aircraft have played a decisive role for the country in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, the 1971 war, and the 1999 Kargil war. The lifespan of these aircraft may have exceeded 50 years, but even today an upgraded MiG-21 can hit any modern aircraft in the sky.

“The proof of this has been seen all over the World in the year 2019 when Wing Commander Abhinandan Vardhaman of the Indian Air Force shot down Pakistan’s fifth-generation modern aircraft F-16 with a MIG-21 Bison. In simple words, the fighting ability of these aircraft of the MIG series is still intact and it is unmatchable, but the record of this aircraft is not very good in terms of safety. More than 400 MiG-21s have been involved in accidents that have claimed the lives of 200 pilots during the last six decades, earning the fighters ominous epithets such as “Flying Coffin” and “Widow Maker”.” – noted the letter.

According to the Experts, more MiG-21s have crashed than any other fighter because they formed the bulk of the fighter aircraft in the IAF’s inventory for a long time. IAF had to keep its MiG-21 fleet flying longer than it would have liked because of delay in the induction of new fighters.

The letter further stated that, “The aircraft first underwent an upgrade in 1970s and the variant was known as the MIG-21 Bis. With the Light Combact Aircraft Tejas, nowhere in the horizon, the IAF decided to upgrade 125 of the MIG21 Bis to MIG-21 Bison in 2000, despite a spate of crashes in the 1990s that claimed lives of many pilots. According to the database of Bharat Rakshak, an aviation website works closely with the IAF, 290 pilots lost their life till now in accidents of MIG-21. (http://www.bharatrakshak.com/IAF/Database/Accidents/catc ount.php)”

Further the crash of a MIG-21 Bison in the early hours of Friday, which killed Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary, has once again led to questions on the safety that have dogged the Soviet-era aircraft for decades now. Just this year alone, there have been three accidents involving the MIG-21 Bison, Which was originally supposed to be replaced by the Tejas.

In 2012, former Defence Minister A.K. Antony had said in Parliament that more than half of the 872 MIG aircraft purchased from Russia had crashed. Due to which, more than 200 persons, including 171 pilots, 39 civilians, and 8 other services people, had lost their lives.

The letter further stated that, an IndiaSpend report where the MIG aircraft, which joined the Indian Air Force in the 1960s, completed their retirement period in the mid-1990s. It is interesting to know that in 1985, Russia removed the aircraft from service, after which Bangladesh and Afghanistan have also removed it from service.