NEWS
On February 23, the government stated that it was planning to phase out the Russian-origin, accident-prone MiG-21aircraft from the Indian Air Force (IAF) by 2017 and replace it with more modern aircraft. Defence Minister A.K. Antony stated in the Rajya Sabha that a number of modern aircraft such as the Su-30 MKI, light combat aircraft (LCA) and the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) would be procured to replace the squadrons of MiG-21s. “The Air Force has got a clear-cut plan to phase out these aircraft by 2017,” said Antony while replying to a member’s query on flight safety during Question Hour in the Upper House of Parliament.

VIEWS
Developed in the mid 1950s, induction into the IAF of the first supersonic air defence aircraft the MiG-21FL began in 1964. This was followed by the newer versions also capable of strike role—the MiG-21M (Type 96) and later the MiG-21 Bis (Type 75). The fleet of MiG-21 Bison was subsequently upgraded and rechristened as MiG-21 Bison. Although the MiG-21 fleet has remained the mainstay of the combat element of the IAF for over three decades, its atrocious safety record earned it the sobriquet of “flying coffin”. However, on account of the interminable procrastination in the operationalisation of the indigenous LCA Tejas, the IAF had no option but to continue to operate the MiG-21 fleet albeit in diminishing numbers and in the process losing both aircraft and trained pilots with disconcerting regularity. The matter was and continues to be of serious concern not only for the IAF but for the government and for the nation as well.

In 2005, divulging the findings of a committee set up by the government to study the problem of high accident rate in the IAF, Pranab Mukherjee, the then Minister of Defence, stated that accidents in the IAF attributable to technical failure constituted 39 per cent of the total number as opposed to accidents due to human error that stood at 43 per cent. Many of the pilot error accidents that took place in the initial years of service of the MiG-21 fleet in the IAF were attributable to lack of proper understanding on the part of pilots of the somewhat difficult and tricky handling characteristics of a delta wing platform especially in the low-speed regime. Accidents due to technical failure were largely related to poor reliability of the engine especially of those overhauled in India. Being a machine with just a single engine, its failure invariably resulted in the loss of the aircraft.

Over the last 10 years, a sizeable number of the older types as also the complete fleet of MiG-23 have been phased out resulting in alarming decline in the strength of fighter squadrons in the IAF from the authorised level of 39.5 to under 30. The nearly 25 per cent reduction in the size of the fleet of fighter aircraft would have resulted in significant erosion of combat potential of the IAF. However, for obvious reasons, it is not possible for the top brass in the IAF to publicly accept degradation of capability. The few remaining Type 96 and the fleet of 120 odd Bison aircraft still constitute a substantial portion of the combat fleet and in the absence of any replacement by way of the LCA Tejas or the speedy induction of 126 combat jets under the MMRCA tender; the IAF continues to be dependent to a large extent on the troublesome MiG-21 fleet.