IAF chief Dhanoa flies solo sorties in MiG-21 jet on visit to Sulur

Indian Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa flew a number of solo sorties in MiG-21 fighter aircraft in Sulur, Coimbatore over the last few days.

MiG-21s are one of the oldest aircraft in the Air Force fleet. Most of them are on the verge of being phased out from the inventory of the Air Force. The aircraft played a stellar role in Kargil war by bombing enemy supply lines.

Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa commanded the 17 squadron during Kargil war which had MiG-21s.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, flying a MiG 21 fighter plane had shot down a Pakistani Air Force F-16 during the aerial confrontation on February 26.

On February 26, IAF launched an attack on terror camps of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot, less than two weeks after the Pulwama attack which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

On February 27, a day after the IAF bombed the terrorist camps, PAF attempted to carry out an attack on Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir. The attack was foiled by IAF pilots, who used specific manoeuvres on their MiG-21s to dodge the multiple AMRAAMs fired by PAF F-16s.

Varthaman had shot down an F-16 plane using a Russian air-to-air missile. However, his plane also crashed and he was taken into custody by the Pakistani Army after crossing over to the neighbouring country.

Under severe pressure from India and several other nations, Pakistan released Abhinandan on March 1.