Latest news with #G-suit
Deccan Herald
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
Last two squadrons of MiG-21s retiring next month: IAF's combat strength set to plunge to all-time low
Twenty-two years ago, on a cloudy August day at Ambala, septuagenarian George Fernandes took a ride in a MiG-21, sporting a G-suit. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was at the receiving end of public anger after a series of crashes killing young pilots and Fernandes, as the defence minister, had to do something to repose people's faith in an aircraft that was the mainstay of the Indian Air Force since the 1960s but unfortunately earned monikers like 'flying coffin' and 'widow maker'.After a 25-minute sortie, a visibly relieved minister said that the flight had been intended to remove negative perceptions about the aircraft from people's minds. The messaging quelled the discontent for some time. A few months passed by peacefully before the next fatal MiG-21 decades, the MiG-21s (NATO name: Fishbed) have been painted as villains, though experts point out that the fault lies with an inadequate training platform and the Centre's procrastination in getting the advanced jet trainer, which came two decades behind the early days when the number of MiG-21 squadrons was limited, only experienced pilots flew the aircraft, and the accident rate was low. As squadron numbers grew, relatively younger pilots were put in the cockpit of an unforgiving to the IAF historian Anchit Gupta, the force had little option but to send young pilot officers to MiG-21 squadrons even though the training they received was not enough to go straightaway to a combat jet that had landing speeds of more than 300 km per hour. 'Between 1985 and 2005, as many as 63 MiG-21s crashed with either Pilot Officers or Flying Officers at the controls. Forty-five of those crashes were fatal. A generation of young IAF pilots was lost," Gupta wrote in a social media the mishaps, the IAF continued with MiG-21 in the absence of an alternative. In the 1990s, it was decided to upgrade 125 of these fighters to MiG-21 BIS with better radar, avionics and other systems, even though the engine and airframe remained the same. The upgraded ones flew for another 20-plus years before age caught up with the flying last two MiG-21 BIS squadrons will bid adieu next month, bringing down the curtains on the mighty jet's journey in the IAF. Unfortunately, the sunset moment will also mark the lowest squadron strength for the IAF with only 29 units as against the sanctioned 42.5 squadrons. This comes at a time when China and Pakistan have been boosting their air power steadily, with the communist country having more than 2100 combat dilly-dallying seen in buying the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer 30 years ago is visible even today. This time it is about finding a replacement for the MiG-21s. The delivery of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft is hugely delayed, the latest irritant being the US major General Electric's failure to supply the engines in time. More than 20 years have been wasted to get 6-7 squadrons of medium multi-role combat jets to replace some of the ode to MiG-21: Farewell, my Faithful UPA government spent a decade carrying out a global tender and shortlisting the French Rafale as the chosen platform for the 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme. In the next 11 years, the NDA government under Narendra Modi cancelled the MMRCA tender; made emergency procurement of two squadrons of Rafale combat jets and announced the Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme to buy 114 fighter jets, but the programme has not moved much beyond the initial and the US have offered India the expensive fifth-generation fighter aircraft, like the Su-57 and the F-35, respectively. Defence Secretary R K Singh, however, said that no formal consultation was going on with any of them, as New Delhi was keen to develop its own fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat the IAF will fight with 'whatever we have', Air Chief Marshal A P Singh said, amid the humming and hawing.
Deccan Herald
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
MiG-21 era set to end, widening chink in air armour
Twenty-two years ago, on a cloudy August day at Ambala, septuagenarian George Fernandes took a ride in a MiG-21, sporting a G-suit. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was at the receiving end of public anger after a series of crashes killing young pilots and Fernandes, as the defence minister, had to do something to repose people's faith in an aircraft that was the mainstay of the Indian Air Force since the 1960s but unfortunately earned monikers like 'flying coffin' and 'widow maker'.After a 25-minute sortie, a visibly relieved minister said that the flight had been intended to remove negative perceptions about the aircraft from people's minds. The messaging quelled the discontent for some time. A few months passed by peacefully before the next fatal MiG-21 decades, the MiG-21s (NATO name: Fishbed) have been painted as villains, though experts point out that the fault lies with an inadequate training platform and the Centre's procrastination in getting the advanced jet trainer, which came two decades behind the early days when the number of MiG-21 squadrons was limited, only experienced pilots flew the aircraft, and the accident rate was low. As squadron numbers grew, relatively younger pilots were put in the cockpit of an unforgiving to the IAF historian Anchit Gupta, the force had little option but to send young pilot officers to MiG-21 squadrons even though the training they received was not enough to go straightaway to a combat jet that had landing speeds of more than 300 km per hour. 'Between 1985 and 2005, as many as 63 MiG-21s crashed with either Pilot Officers or Flying Officers at the controls. Forty-five of those crashes were fatal. A generation of young IAF pilots was lost," Gupta wrote in a social media the mishaps, the IAF continued with MiG-21 in the absence of an alternative. In the 1990s, it was decided to upgrade 125 of these fighters to MiG-21 BIS with better radar, avionics and other systems, even though the engine and airframe remained the same. The upgraded ones flew for another 20-plus years before age caught up with the flying last two MiG-21 BIS squadrons will bid adieu next month, bringing down the curtains on the mighty jet's journey in the IAF. Unfortunately, the sunset moment will also mark the lowest squadron strength for the IAF with only 29 units as against the sanctioned 42.5 squadrons. This comes at a time when China and Pakistan have been boosting their air power steadily, with the communist country having more than 2100 combat dilly-dallying seen in buying the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer 30 years ago is visible even today. This time it is about finding a replacement for the MiG-21s. The delivery of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft is hugely delayed, the latest irritant being the US major General Electric's failure to supply the engines in time. More than 20 years have been wasted to get 6-7 squadrons of medium multi-role combat jets to replace some of the my Faithful UPA government spent a decade carrying out a global tender and shortlisting the French Rafale as the chosen platform for the 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme. In the next 11 years, the NDA government under Narendra Modi cancelled the MMRCA tender; made emergency procurement of two squadrons of Rafale combat jets and announced the Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme to buy 114 fighter jets, but the programme has not moved much beyond the initial and the US have offered India the expensive fifth-generation fighter aircraft, like the Su-57 and the F-35, respectively. Defence Secretary R K Singh, however, said that no formal consultation was going on with any of them, as New Delhi was keen to develop its own fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat the IAF will fight with 'whatever we have', Air Chief Marshal A P Singh said, amid the humming and hawing.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
A tale from the 1971 war: When not reciting the Kalma landed IAF pilot Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava (retd) in Pak captivity
1 2 Chandigarh: Terrorists asking tourists at Baisaran in Pahalgam to recite the Kalma (Islamic declaration of faith) before opening fire has a chilling parallel to an incident during 1971 India-Pakistan war , when Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava (retd) faced a similar ordeal when he was captured in Pakistan and failed to recite the Kalma. Bhargava was made a prisoner of war (POW) and returned to India only after living for around a year in Pakistani captivity . Recalling his experience, Bhargava, who was a young flight lieutenant at that time, told TOI it was his first sortie beyond enemy lines, when he took off from Barmer air force station in Rajasthan on Dec 5, 1971 morning to launch an attack. He was flying HF-24 (Hindustan Fighters), popularly known as 'Marut', when he was shot down. On Dec 5, 1971, around 9am, his aircraft was hit by ground fire and he decided to eject. His parachute barely opened when he touched down. Aircraft had crashed into a sand dune on the Pakistan side adjoining Rajasthan. He immediately took out some important items from the survival pack, buried his G-suit under the bushes, set his watch on Pakistan standard time and started marching away from the aircraft. He managed to survive for around 12 hours without being identified. During this period, he introduced himself as pilot Mansoor Ali of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), whose plane was shot by Indian forces. He even showed Pakistan currency to convince people meeting him after his crash. According to Bhargava, who is presently settled in Panchkula, the villagers in Pakistan were least bothered about his identity and helped him considering an injured soldier. However, he came across some Pakistani Rangers while staying in a village. One of the soldiers of Pakistan Rangers asked him to read the Kalma. "He even offered that he will read and I have to follow him. As I failed to read it, I was exposed and was arrested and handed over to the Pakistan army," Bhargava recalled. Recalling Dec 1, 1972, when he along with other POWs returned from Pakistan's captivity, the 83-years old veteran said they came via the Attari-Wagah border where the then Punjab chief minister, Giani Jail Singh, received them. Initially, they were taken to the local air force unit, where chilled beer and a sumptuous lunch were arranged, which they had enjoyed almost after one year. Thereafter, they were flown to Palam air force base, where they united with their families. Bhargava, a former Ranji Trophy cricketer, said he considered his wife, Anu, whom he lost two months ago because of an illness, more courageous than him as she faced all the traumas in his absence. "When the news about the crash of my aircraft was told to her, she told everyone that nothing will go wrong and that he will return," says Bhargava. He said she came to know about him only when his parachute, ejection seat and the G-suit were found by an army search team and the same were handed over to his squadron. Later, in mid-Jan 1972, his family was informed about his POW status in Pakistan. Thereafter, all heaved a sigh of relief and waited for his return.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
1971 war tales: Indian Air Force pilot's Kalma episode & Pak captivity
Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava (retd) CHANDIGARH: Terrorists asking tourists at Baisaran in Pahalgam to recite the Kalma (Islamic declaration of faith) before opening fire has a chilling parallel to an incident during 1971 India-Pakistan war , when Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava (retd) faced a similar ordeal when he was captured in Pakistan and failed to recite the Kalma. Bhargava was made a prisoner of war (POW) and returned to India only after living for around a year in Pakistani captivity . Recalling his experience, Bhargava, who was a young flight lieutenant at that time, told TOI it was his first sortie beyond enemy lines, when he took off from Barmer air force station in Rajasthan on Dec 5, 1971 morning to launch an attack. He was flying HF-24 (Hindustan Fighters), popularly known as 'Marut', when he was shot down. On Dec 5, 1971, around 9am, his aircraft was hit by ground fire and he decided to eject. His parachute barely opened when he touched down. Aircraft had crashed into a sand dune on the Pakistan side adjoining Rajasthan. He immediately took out some important items from the survival pack, buried his G-suit under the bushes, set his watch on Pakistan standard time and started marching away from the aircraft. He managed to survive for around 12 hours without being identified. During this period, he introduced himself as pilot Mansoor Ali of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), whose plane was shot by Indian forces. He even showed Pakistan currency to convince people meeting him after his crash. According to Bhargava, who is presently settled in Panchkula, the villagers in Pakistan were least bothered about his identity and helped him considering an injured soldier. However, h e came across some Pakistani Rangers while staying in a village. One of the soldiers of Pakistan Rangers asked him to read the Kalma. 'He even offered that he will read and I have to follow him. As I failed to read it, I was exposed and was arrested and handed over to the Pakistan army,' Bhargava recalled. Recalling Dec 1, 1972, when healong with other POWs returned from Pakistan's captivity, the 83-years old veteran said they came via the Attari-Wagah border where the then Punjab chief minister, Giani Jail Singh, received them. Initially, they were taken to the local air force unit, where chilled beer and a sumptuous lunch were arranged, which they had enjoyed almost after one year. Thereafter, they were flown to Palam air force base, where they united with their families. Bhargava, a former Ranji Trophy cricketer, said he considered his wife, Anu, whom he lost two months ago because of an illness, more courageous than him as she faced all the traumas in his absence. 'When the news about the crash of my aircraft was told to her, she told everyone that nothing will go wrong and that he will return,' says Bhargava. He said she came to know about him only when his parachute, ejection seat and the G-suit were found by an army search team and the same were handed over to his squadron. Later, in mid-Jan 1972, his family was informed about his POW status in Pakistan. Thereafter, all heaved a sigh of relief and waited for his return.
