PROCUREMENT OF AIRCRAFT FOR INDIAN AIR FORCE

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LOK SABHA

Secondhand / decommissioned MiG-21 fighter aircraft have not been purchased by the Government. However, secondhand MiG-21 trainers have been purchased to meet the urgent training requirements. 19 second hand MiG-21 trainers were procured from Kyrgyzstan and 8 from Ukraine.

As new MiG-21 trainer aircraft are not available in the global market, being out of production, induction of secondhand MiG-21 trainer has been resorted to meet the training requirements of the Indian Air Force.

The cost of secondhand MiG-21 trainer is approximately Rs. 2.5 crores and the cost of a new fighter aircraft in the air superiority class is approximately Rs. 190 crores.

The aircraft which crashed in Srinagar recently was a second hand trainer aircraft, bought from Kyrgyzstan and was last overhauled in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in March 1999.

This information was given by the Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes in a written reply to Dr. Sushil Kumar Indora and others in Lok Sabha today.