Why fly 44-year-old jets when old cars not on road: IAFchief BS Dhanoa

New Delhi: Indian Air Force chief BS Dhanoa on Tuesdayquestioned why India is flying aircraft that are over four decades old when noone drives even cars of that vintage. Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa was referring tothe MiG-21 fighter aircraft that had been inducted into the force in 1973-74."Thefifth-generation fighters are a reality and the next generation fighters arealready on the drawing board. Can we afford a victory with such losses? Ifthere is no war, we cannot wait for indigenous technology to replace obsoletewar fighting equipment.

"Neither will it be prudent to import every defenceequipment from abroad. Today, I can still fly the MiG 21 MF aircraft which isalmost 44 years old. I`m sure none of you are driving a car of thatvintage," he said.Dhanoa made the statement on India`s obsolete fleet offighter aircraft in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at a seminaron indigenisation of the IAF held here.

"Having said that, it is because over a period of timewe have indigenised many of the sub-assemblies and innovated and have doneimport substitution of many components that have gone out of manufacture acrossthe world," he added.

The seminar, Modernisation and Indigenisation of the IndianAir Force, had been organised jointly by the Society of Indian DefenceManufacturers and the Confederation of Indian Industries.

In 2006, India had upgraded more than 100 MiG-21 fighterjets to MiG-21 Bisons by equipping the aircraft with powerful multi-mode radar,better avionics and communications systems.

In February, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman had shotdown a Pakistani F-16 flying a MiG-21 Bison during a dog fight. His plane had,however, been hit by a missile and had landed across the Pakistani side of theborder.

Delivering the inaugural address of the seminar, RajnathSingh had stressed upon the need to develop indigenous defence productioncapabilities in India.

"The recent offensive strikes against terrorist forcesin our neighbourhood speaks volumes about the reach and lethality of theformidable armed forces. However, the IAF needs to keep pace with theadvancement in technology in order to enhance its operationalcapabilities," he had said.