India's option to get 50 more MiG-21bis upgrades

Decision on Option for Upgrade of Another 50 Indian Air Force MiG-21bis Fighters to Be Made before Year’s End

The Indian side is not ruling out filing for the option of approximately 50 MiG-21bis fighters for subsequent upgrade.

“A decision on this question is expected in the second half of this year,” an informed source in the defense industrial complex reported to Interfax-AVN on Tuesday. “Tests of upgraded MiG-21bis fighters in Russia and in India have shown the fighter’s modern quality and its prospects for use in the air force for many years. Considering the results achieved, the Indian side is interested in the upgrade of the remaining part of the Indian air force MiG-21 fleet,” he said.

According to the agency source, “upgrade of line Indian air force MiG-21bis is optimal not only owing to the fact the upgraded MiG-21bis already have demonstrated good combat performance, but again because the MiG-21bis service life can be, in principle, extended to 40 years.”

The source noted that “the service life of the MiG-29 fighters being used by the Indian air force can be extended to 30 years, but the MiG-27 fighters which were produced in India under Soviet license have a service life only up to 20 years because of the variable swept wing. Owing to these factors, upgrade of the MiG-21bis is extremely prospective.”

In all in past years, 10,158 MiG-21 fighters of various modifications were produced. Of them, approximately 5,000 are still in the inventory of almost 40 countries of the world. As of today, up to 1,400 MiG-21 fighters are being used in the world.

Source: 24.03.04, VPK