IAF MiGs

IAF has the following types of the MiG air crafts- MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25R, MiG-27M, MiG-29M. All together these five types come up to approximately 84 % of the total fighter flying involved in combat. The MiG-21 itself has about five variants in the IAF, at a substantial 48%.

The Indian Air Force currently operates more than 175 MiG-21 air crafts. Due to its ageing equipment, several MiG-21s used in training roles have crashed over the past six years, killing over 50 IAF pilots and earning the nickname 'flying coffins'. The IAF initially planned to replace the MiG-21 fleet with indigenously built HAL Tejas aircrafts by 2006. However, the target could not be met due to developmental delays and a U.S. sanction, following the Pokhran tests, which blocked the delivery of GE F404 engines, a crucial component of the aircraft.

The production of the MiG-21 was under license by Hindustan Aeronautics of India, which lasted until 1984. Despite a series of crashes during the 1990s, the Indian Air Force decided to upgrade about 128 of the MiG-21s in its inventory, to the MiG-21 Bison standard. These will serve the Indian Air Force until 2015.

In 2003, the IAF placed an order for 66 Hawk T1 training aircrafts in a deal worth over 1 billion GBP. The supply of these advanced trainer aircrafts will bring to an end the use of the MiG-21 as a training jet. India also manufactures less sophisticated HAL HJT-16 Kiran and HPT-32 Deepak basic training aircrafts.

MiG's in IAF

The Indian Air Force currently has in its fleet the following variants of the MiG aircraft.

MiG-21
The MiG-21 is a multi-role fighter. It is also known as Vikram and Trishul by the IAF while NATO recognizes it as Fishbed. Inducted in the year 1963, the total count of all MiG-21 variants like bis, FL, M, MF and U (Trainer) is approximately 450.

MiG-23
The MiG-23 is a variable geometry ground support aircraft. It is also known as Rakshak (MiG-23MF), Vijaay (Mig-23) BN by the IAF while NATO recognizes it as Flogger-G. Inducted in the year 1981, the total count of all MiG-23 variants like bis, BN, MF and U (Trainer) is approximately 120. Its primary role is that of an aggressor and has two lift jets as compared to one in the MiG-21 variant.

MiG-25
MiG-25 is a high altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft and can fly at speeds higher than Mach 3. Its IAF name is Garuda and NATO name is Foxbat. It was added to the Indian fleet in the year 1981. Variants used by IAF are R, RU and Trainer. The IAF has only 8 of these in its fleet and form the Trisonics squadron. The Mig-25 is the world's fastest and highest flying aircraft. However this aircraft has now been phased out by the IAF. This plane was used for strategic reconnaissance across borders. There are only 42 pilots in the Indian Air Force to have flown this plane.

MiG-27
The MiG-27 is a variable geometry ground attack aircraft known by the IAF as Bahadur and by NATO as Flogger. It was introduced in the IAF fleet in1984. The variant used by IAF is ML and the IAF currently owns approximately 200 of these. Primarily designed to be a strike and ground attack optimized variant of the MiG-23, it’s a bomber and its primary mission is the destruction of moving and stationary, fixed and mobile ground targets including hardened targets. Outside Russia, India is the only MiG-27 export customer, where it has been built under license.

MiG-29
The MiG-29 is an air superiority fighter known by the IAF as Baaz and by NATO as Fulcrum. It was added to the IAF fleet in 1987 and the variants used are B and UB (Trainer). Our fleet currently owns 70 of these. The MiG-29 was designed and built to be a single-seat supersonic, all-weather, air superiority fighter and its primary role is to destroy air targets at distances from 60 to 200 kilometres (30 to 110 NM) at all altitudes, profiles, in any weather, and under all ECM conditions. In addition, the MiG-29 has been optimized to attack both stationary and moving targets with precision guided armaments.