THIS HAS TO BE A JOKE, but according to the Hindustan Times, the MiG 21 has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize! That's right, the MiG 21, an obsolete Cold War era fighter/interceptor. According to the article by Gursimran Khamba, "Indian Mig 21 nominated for Nobel Peace Prize",The Indian Air Force came in for a surprise today as the Nobel Foundation in Sweden nominated the Mig 21 for the Peace Prize in 2012, shortly after announcing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman as winners for 2011. In a press release, the Nobel Foundation states "We would like to appreciate the role of the IAF Mig-21 which is the most prominent aircraft to reject the notion of war by deciding to crash in entirety before any conflict arises, thus saving thousands of innocent lives. Unlike Barack Obama who was given the prize despite being at war with two countries, the Mig 21 is only at war with its inability to survive a flight."
Indian defence analysts however were not amused. "This seems like an attempt by the Scandinavians to mock the equipment levels of the Indian Air Force. They are probably still peeved that the SAAB Gripen got rejected by the IAF for the 126 MMRCA fighter contract, and they're using the Nobel Foundation as a front to publicly humiliate us."
Indian defence analysts however were not amused. "This seems like an attempt by the Scandinavians to mock the equipment levels of the Indian Air Force. They are probably still peeved that the SAAB Gripen got rejected by the IAF for the 126 MMRCA fighter contract, and they're using the Nobel Foundation as a front to publicly humiliate us."
For a variety of reasons, the old MiG (and its Chinese copy, the Chengdu J-7) is a bitchy aircraft to fly, it will kill the inexperienced long before they might fall to enemy guns or missiles. According to the Wiki link above,
The safety record of the IAF's MiG-21s has raised concern in the Indian Parliament and media, leading to the aircraft sometimes being referred to in the IAF as a "flying coffin". One source estimates that in the nine years from 1993 to 2002, the IAF lost over 100 pilots in 283 accidents. During its service life, the IAF has lost at least 116 aircraft to crashes (not including those lost in combat), with 81 of those occurring since 1990.
Must be somebody's got a sense of humor, and great hacking skills. Go figure.
It's kind of a cool design though.
ReplyDeleteFor its time, it certainly was, and experts like Col. John Boyd and his "Acolytes" were very concerned, as the USAF were committed to the big missile interceptors like the F-4 Phantom and the F-106, with indifferent results when they encountered the MiG over Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteWell they gave a peace prize to Obama and look how that has turned out. So why not.
ReplyDeleteIt was a spoof:
ReplyDelete"Why Google News needs an editor"
Mark
Ottawa
Edstock:
ReplyDeleteThe Delta Dart was not used in Vietnam, indeed never saw combat. The F-105 fighter bomber did have problems with MiGs (17 and 21) in Vietnam:
"...Although it lacked the agility of the smaller MiG fighters, USAF F-105s demonstrated the effectiveness of guns, and were credited with downing 27.5 enemy aircraft."
Mark
Ottawa