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http://indianairforce.nic.in/show_pressrelease.php?pg_id=107&news_id=802

IAF'S FIRST SUPERSONIC JET TO BE AVIATION FOLKLORE

07-12-2013
PRESS RELEASE

The deafening roar of the Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21 FL afterburner, an iconic delta-wing fighter aircraft that heralded the 'supersonic era' in Indian Air Force (IAF) will no longer be heard after December 11, 2013, the day it is set to fly into the annals of military aviation history.

Four Mig-21 FL aircraft flown by pilots from the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU), last abode of the venerable jets, will fly a 'box formation' as Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne takes salute at the ceremonial parade to bid them adieu.

Formations of Mig-27 ML and Sukhoi-30 MKI will also flypast the parade square in reverence to the legend of a fighter jet that remains the most widely exploited platform in IAF history. It also saw action in the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971.

Being limited in numbers, the Mig-21s played a restricted role in the 1965 war. They, however, played a crucial role in the 1971 war giving IAF the air superiority over vital points and areas in the western theatre.

In the first ever supersonic air combat that ensued over the sub-continent in 1971, an Indian Mig-21 FL claimed a PAF F-104 Starfighter with its internal twin-barrelled guns alone.

By end of the hostilities the IAF Mig-21s had claimed four Pakistani F-104s, two F-6s, one F-86 Sabre and a Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

The pin-point accurate attack on the Governor`s House at Dhaka by IAF pilots flying the Mig-21s proved to be a turning point in the war forcing the adversary to negotiate an eventual surrender.

The Mig-21 was also fielded in the Kargil war. It was often the first choice of commanders as it provided unmatched flexibility due its unique attributes of high agility, fast acceleration and quick turn-around.

The versatility of all the Mig-21 variants have immensely shaped the IAF operational philosophy for decades. The pilots, engineers and technicians who flew and maintained the Mig-21 have been strong proponents of its exceptional combat worthiness.

Besides accomplishing major operational feats, the Mig-21 also ushered a revolutionary enhancement in the technological and manufacturing capabilities of our indigenous aerospace industry.

With the phasing out of the Mig-21 FL, an era of relentless performance, precision deliverance and intimidating performance will also come to an end.

(Release ID :101098)
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sabya99 · Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 5:58 am Post subject:

Where is this OCU; Kalaikunda?

If I remember correctly attack on Governor's house in Dhaka was carried over by Hunter squadron temporarily relocated to Jessore airbase from Kalaikunda!!
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Sabya99

747-237 · Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 4:23 pm Post subject:

sabya99 · Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:03 pm Post subject:

Air force’s ‘flying coffin’ laid to rest
- MiG-21 decommissioned after 50 chequered years

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131212/jsp/nation/story_17671855.jsp
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Sabya99

747-237 · Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:25 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

vivekman · Member Joined: 26 Dec 2006 Posts: 1897 Location: BOM

Wow, this is the first time I am seeing a photo of a twin seater Mig-25! I never knew it had a "split" type cockpit.

The only place where I have seen an IAF Mig-25 is at the IAF Museum at Delhi.

Of course, the museum also has a Mig-21 FL on display

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Boeing makes planes. Airbus makes videogames!

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

ssbmat · Member Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 1710

747-237 · Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:28 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

747-237 · Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 5:22 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

747-237 · Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 6:19 pm Post subject:

sabya99 · Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:50 pm Post subject:

Tejas to replace MiG-21: Air Chief
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/tejas-to-replace-mig-21-air-chief_896233.html

Zee Media Bureau

Shillong: Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne on Thursday said that light combat aircraft 'Tejas' will replace the iconic MiG-21.

The Tejas is India's first indigenously-designed and developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

"One major phase has passed over and now we look toward the new induction into the force. The LCA will replace the MiG-21," Browne told reporters at the headquarter of Eastern Air Command here.

"We will get 40 aircraft and that will be the Mark-I type. Tejas will be battle ready by end of 2014," he said.

Defence Minister AK Antony would officially hand over initiation of acceptance of the Tejas into the force at its birthplace in Bengaluru on December 20, the IAF Chief said.

Browne, accompanied by his wife Kiran, was here on a two-day farewell visit and also attended a Commanders' Conference of the Eastern Air Command.

According to Browne, works are on for developing Mark-II type 'Tejas' with improvement in radar system and other add-ons and it will be inducted into the force at a later stage.

Asked on air defence scenario in the Northeast region, Browne said, "North East area is important to us. We have plans for induction of radars for the hilly terrain. We have a series of systems that ensure that the air defence is impregnable."

He said one squadron of Sukhoi would be based in Tezpur by next year, adding that the latest squadron was being formed at Sirsa in Punjab.

On the MiG-21 FL which was phased out after 50-years of service, at a function at Kalaikunda Air base in West Bengal yesterday, Browne said, "It's been a memorable moment for the Air Force and also a watershed moment as the aircraft which trained all the fighter pilots including myself and generations of pilots."

"It has done its job. It has done well," he added.

Tejas has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation with Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Bangalore, as the lead laboratory and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as the production partner.

The MiG-21 FL -- a variant in the MiG-21 series of fighter aircraft -- that heralded the dawn of the supersonic jet era for the Indian Air Force half a century ago, on Wednesday passed into military aviation history at an emotional fly past and parade at an air base in West Bengal.

Two pairs of MiG-21 FLs took off with a deafening roar from the runway of the Kalaikunda air base at 9.45 am for one last time on Wednesday, ending a 50-year-long association with the IAF.

The jet -- that has been flown by nearly three out of every four fighter pilots of the IAF since its induction in 1963 and dealt telling blows to the Pakistan Air Force during the 1971 war -- made its final pass in a four-aircraft box formation over the tarmac area.

It was a nostalgic moment for Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne and many other weather-beaten IAF veterans who had flown the jet and experienced the distinct "kick" of its reheat, regarded by aviation experts as quite unlike any other fighter jet's "reheat" experience.
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Sabya99

shivendrashukla · Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 10:18 am Post subject:

The second MiG25 U is at Air Force Academy, Dundigal near Hyderabad.

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

shivendrashukla · Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:01 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

sabya99 · Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 7:10 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

sabya99 · Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 1:05 am Post subject:

shivendrashukla · Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 6:05 pm Post subject:

Air Marshall Mukerjee was the first Indian Air Chief of the IAF. He and some brilliant minds were instrumental in bringing up IAF and making it such a potent force, it is today.

Cheers
Shivendra