(Video) Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) The Big Picture: Need to Modernise Indian Air Force

Topic: Need to Modernise Indian Air Force

Guest:

Ratan Shrivastava, (Advisor, Aerospace & Defence)
Ajay Banerjee, (Defence Correspondent, The Tribune)
Air Vice Marshal P. K. Srivastava, (Defence Expert)

Topic Description:

Amid escalating tension between India and Pakistan over the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa on Tuesday said the Indian Air Force (IAF) is still flying 44-year-old MiG-21 Russian fighter jets. MiG-21s have been the most accident-prone of all IAF fighter jets, thus earning the names "flying coffin”. Speaking at an IAF seminar in New Delhi, Dhanoa said the basic version of the Russian fighter jet would be phased out this year. He also said the IAF is replacing high-end obsolete weapons with indigenously developed ones that will boost in-house defence manufacturing, however, "to win a war, we also need high-end, high-tech items, which we need to import". From 1963-2015, the MiG-21 has had a total of 210 accidents. Of these, a maximum of 16 accidents took place in 1999. India is currently the largest operator of MiG-21 Bison, with an estimated 100+ aircrafts on duty.