Kalaikunda: The MiG-21 FL fighter jet, which had heralded the “supersonic era” in IAF and had changed the course of the 1971 Indo-Pak war due to its accuracy, flew into the annals of history today.
“I have the greatest professional regard for MiG-21. The agility of MiG-21 cannot be matched by any of the present day fighters,” Browne said after bidding adieu to one of the first variants of MiG-21 combat aircraft, which dealt severe blows to Pakistan air force in the 1971 Bangladesh war.
At the Kalaikunda airbase in West Midnapore district Flight Lieutenant L Nagarajan, the youngest Operational Conversion Unit pilot, handed over form 700 (document log of an aircraft) of MIG-21 FL to the air chief, symbolically drawing curtains on one of the most enduring saga in IAF aviation history.
Appreciating the remarkable service rendered by the squad, Browne said its unprecedented combat flexibility helped it to become the fighter backbone of IAF for a long period of time.
“In the (19)80s and 90s it constituted almost 60 per cent of combat aircraft of IAF. Around 90 per cent of IAF pilots at present have flow one or the other type of MiG-21s ie - FL-77 which was phased out today and MiG-21 BIS,” he said adding all variants of MiG-21 will be phased out.
