India To Phase Out MiG 21s By 2014

The Indian Ministry of Defense is all set to give the Air Force a “new look” by phasing out MiG 21s which have been involved in frequent crashes and inducting a modern next-gen aircrafts. "MiG 21s which constitute around 40 per cent of the IAF fleet will start getting phased out from 2014. With the induction of modern next generation aircraft such as the FGFA and MMRCA, the IAF will be a new look force," Defense Minister A K Antony said while addressing the Parliament's Consultative Committee of the Defence Ministry in New Delhi. The IAF has already begun the process of phasing out the older variants of the MiG 21s and it is expecting to complete the process by the end of 2017. In 2011, a total of seven fighter aircraft crashed of which six were MiG 21 variants. The IAF has inducted a total of 946 MiG-21s in its fleet and 476 of them have been lost in various accidents over the past 45 years.