There
is a heated debate going on in the internet about the Indian Air Force MIG 21
shooting down a Pakistani F16. Many
wonderful stories were spun about how this Korean War relic could shoot down
one of the most advanced 4th generation aircraft are worth reading
if one is in need of some laughters or cannot fall asleep. One version, the
Pakistani pilot was a kopi licensed pilot and thought he was on vacation, or
was snoozing when the Indian pilot closed in on him and shot him down with a
catapult. Another version, the Indian pilot was so well trained that the
Pakistani pilot was no match despite having a more advanced and modern
aircraft. There are many fascinating stories of this dog fight, some claiming
to have videos showing how it went.
The
consequences of this modern myth, or was it a fake story, are more interesting.
Lockheed Martin, the maker of F16 is going bankrupt as all orders for F16s were
cancelled. F16s are now selling in the black market for the price of a song, like
junks and no takers. All the American allies that have bought the F16s are
retiring their fleet and moving them to the museums. No pilots would want to be
seen flying a F16 for the fear of their lives.
On
the other side of the coin, closed down MIG factories are roaring to life.
Orders are coming in for more MIG 21s. Delivery time is 3 years from date of
purchase order. The factories are running over time, working round the clock to
reproduce these antiques that are now highly desired by many air forces for
their air superiority, to be able to shoot down F16s. This is really a cheap
and good story. But the prices would not hold for long as the demands
outstripped the supplies and prices are shooting through the roof. Who cares
about F16s or F22s or even F35s when all they need is MIG 21s?
Would
Singapore be cancelling its buy orders for four F35s and ordering 200 MIG 21s
instead for the same money? With the crash of the Japanese F35, Turkey is the first to chicken out and has cancelled its order for F35s and switching to SU 57s. Other European countries are also thinking of doing the same. Lockheed Martin is going to face the same fate as
Boeing with more orders cancelled.
Actually
I have another version of the truth. When the Pakistani pilot saw the MIG 21 he
thought he was dreaming. Where on earth could one find such a relic flying,
where was he, watching a Bollywood movie? It could not be true, no modern air
forces in the world is flying such antique aircraft anymore. China has converted their MIGs to drones, fly by wire. The Pakistani pilot was in a daze. So,
while he was musing about what he was seeing, he forgot that he was in a war
zone and at war. So he was shot down before he knew what was happening.
And
the shot was so accurate because he was not taking evasive action, and was so
near he was blown to pieces, literary turned to dust, and his body could not be
found, untraceable. If he was shot down like the MIG 21 by Pakistan, he would
be able to bale out in time and be caught like Wing Commander Ahbinandan when
he landed on his parachute. And he could then be sent home and received a
hero’s welcome for being shot down and captured by the enemies and survived. And the remains of the wreckage would be found and filmed as proof.
This
episode has given a big boost to Russian MIG aircraft manufacturer and big
profits. There is no better advertisement than an antique shooting down a
modern and advanced aircraft that cost a fortune to buy. The most unhappy
people must be the Americans, unable to sell their modern aircraft anymore. Who
would want to waste money buying expensive American aircraft that could easily
be shot down by Russian antiques that could be bought for a song?
The
above article first appeared in redbean’s Sunday tabloid.