The IAF has openly praised these machines - which no doubt were a delight for the aviators during its hey days, but behind the doors they do accept that they are needed to be replaced immediately.
Statistics tabled in the Parliament-
"A total of 872 MiG aircraft of various types were purchased
from 1966-1980. The MiG series aircraft were inducted starting from MiG-21 in
1960s/1970s to MiG-29 in 1980s. These aircraft were purchased as per
rules/procedures of that period. At present the procurement of capital
equipment is carried out as per Defence Procurement Procedure.
The training of initial
batches of pilots for MiG series aircraft was carried out in erstwhile USSR,
followed by training for the rest of the pilots in India. The procurement cases
involving Russian origin MiG-21 Bis & MiG-27 aircraft involved Transfer of
Technology (ToT) and license production by HAL.
482 MiG aircraft
accidents took place since Financial Year (FY) 1971-72 to FY 2012-13 (till 19th
April 2012).
A total of 171 pilots,
39 civilians, 8 service personnel and 1 aircrew lost their lives in these
accidents. The causes of accidents were both human error and technical defects."
(Also read Death by Flying Junk )
482 aircraft lost in 40 years is an enviable record especially when the aircraft is serving in the tropical low level role.Speaks highly of the excellent basic engineering of the design and the skill and the dedication of the IAF squadron level engineers which we can only proudly respect and be in awe of.Western aircraft serving in less punishing conditions suffered much worse figures.
ReplyDelete