Ex-IAF chief explains why India fielded MiG-21 vs Pak F-16 during Balakot dogfight
India Today
During the 2019 Balkot dogfight, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's MiG-21 Bison was shot down, leading many to wonder whether deploying the MiGs during the dogfight was a sound decision.
The Indian Air Force's (IAF) tactical decisions during the 2019 Balakot dogfight led to many question why MiG-21 Bison fighter jets were deployed against the more advanced Pakistan's F-16s. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's MiG-21 Bison was shot down during the engagement leading many to wonder whether deploying the MiGs during the dogfight was a sound decision.
During a recent discussion on The Lallantop, India Today’s sister website, former Air Force chief BS Dhanoa addressed concerns over the choice of aircraft, acknowledging that questions had been raised about whether more advanced planes could have been deployed during the engagement.
He clarified that the selection was not a matter of preference, but dictated by the immediate operational realities faced by the IAF.
When asked during the discussion why MiG-21 Bisons were flown if the IAF knew it would face F-16s, Dhanoa responded, “Did we have better planes?”
"There were only MiG-21s in Srinagar, and the Su-30s couldn’t enter the area where the dogfight took place because the region’s topography wasn’t suitable. HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) was supposed to deliver 27 upgraded Mirage 2000s capable of operating there, but we had only seven. We had the LCA (Tejas fighter jet too, but no weapons to support it," he said.
"The MiG-21s were deployed because we had no other choice. If you ask me personally, the MiG-21 shouldn’t have been there at all. Even our Prime Minister has said the outcome would have been different if we had Rafales. When the enemy strikes, we have to fight with what we have, there’s no other optionm" the former IAF chief added.
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