My checklist sena upgrade#
My checklist sena full#

What option does the IAF have in the face of repeated penny-pocket acquisitions except 'soldier on?.But this time, the former air chief's sound bytes carried two ominous warnings: One of MiG-21's foremost exponents in recent times and a former air chief, ACM BS Dhanoa, publicly defended the MiG-21's prowess in a recent interview to India Today, issuing another one in a long list of 'safe to fly' certificates. Since no data of any meaningful value related to flight safety and accident investigation is ever put out by the armed forces for public scrutiny, one cannot expect anyone outside the system to analyse or offer mitigating strategies. They downplay the fact that MiG-21s have long been swinging to two extreme outcomes-one where a plausible interception in dogfight leads to glorification of the ageing fighter ( Wg Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman was decorated with a Vir Chakra for a PAF F-16 shootdown post Balakot)-and, on the other hand, tragedy of the magnitude that was witnessed at Barmer in Rajasthan on 28 Jul, 2022. Official sources quote the convenient downward trend of 'accident rate per ten thousand hours' to whitewash ugly fleet replacement failures. But sadly, this is how we have manage to rationalise any MiG-21 accident. The same metric cannot be used across the board for, say, a Boeing P8I with enormous endurance, and a MiG-21 Bison that flies off runways at 340 kmph. Of course, nobody wants an 'apples-versus-oranges' comparison. This is the closest estimate on how the odds weigh for/against an aircraft's continued retention in service.

Over time, the services arrive at a metric: 'rate per Z flying hours'. Simply put, if you have an aeroplane X that flies in vast numbers, logging more flying hours than aeroplane Y with lower numbers (and thus lower flying hours), X's accident rate could seemingly be higher. There are definitive cause-group classifications and accident rate (per 10k/million hours) that act like wind vanes for an aircraft's continued exploitation in service. However, accident investigation and safety management should not buck to social media trends or 'outrage factor'.

My checklist sena full#

MiG-21 pilots have to take decisions well-ahead of an ageing fighter with landing/takeoff speeds in excess of commercial airliners equipped with two pilots, full autopilot, flight director, autothrottle, and the fanciest 'bells & whistles' one can dream of. Inducted in the same epoch, a key difference is that the supersonic fighter is terribly unforgiving of man or material failure. The MiG-21 is the fighter equivalent of Chetaks (Alouette III).

My checklist sena upgrade#

But without a solid plan for upgrade / replacement and sound plan for back-end logistic support, not all pilots who fly such machines will outlive the nebulous Total Technical Life (TTL) of aircraft.įor the IAF, these statistics took another blow on 28 Jul, 2022 when a MiG-21 trainer crashed at Barmer in Rajasthan after taking off on a night training sortie from Air Force Station Uttarlai. There is strength of numbers and economy of scale. Such large numbers can be a double-edged sword. Spine-replacement surgeries are neither easy nor without pain. I write this with the greatest respect for bravehearts, who continue to fly machines that were contracted six decades ago-in such large numbers (estimated 872 in all) that it formed the backbone of IAF. It's not like the Indian Air Force has a choice.