Flogger Down; Indian Air Force Loses MiG-27 Strike Fighter

An Indian Air Force MiG-27 swept wing strike fighter reportedly crashed near the country’s Jaisalmer Air Force Station in Rajasthan state in the evening of February 12th 2019, with the pilot having ejected successfully without injury. The fighter was reportedly flying a training mission, with Defence Ministry spokesman Col. Sombit Ghosh stating: "A MIG 27 aircraft airborne from Jaisalmer crashed during a routine mission today evening. Pilot ejected safely. A Court of Inquiry will investigate the cause of the accident.” This marks one of a series of recent crashes of Indian combat aircraft, with the country’s French built Mirage 2000 and British Jaguar jets also suffering a number of operational problems.

MiG-27 Strike Fighter

The MiG-27 first entered service in 1975 as a specialised variant of the MiG-23 air superiority fighter designed specifically for air to ground strike roles - a comparable role to the Su-22 and Su-24 jets also in Soviet service which were designed by the rival Sukhoi design bureau. Alongside its acquisition of approximately 150 MiG-23 fighters, India quickly became a leading client for the MiG-27 and had 165 of the fighters domestically manufactured under licence by the state owned aerospace defence company HAL. The fighters were of the MiG-27M variant, a cheaper analogue to the advanced MiG-27K used by the Soviet Air Force, which was the first to deploy a GSh-6-23M Gatling gun. The advanced strike variant also deployed advanced new electronic warfare systems, a new PrNK-23K navigation and attack system for automatic flight control and other upgrades which enhanced its capabilities considerably relative to the original variant.

Indian Air Force MiG-27ML Strike Fighter

India is today one of just two operators of the MiG-27 alongside Kazakhstan, and one of only five countries which ever operated the aircraft with Russia, Ukraine and Sri Lanka having retired their own strike jets. While the Indian Air Force phased its last combat variants of the MiG-23 out of service in 2009, retaining only the MiG-23UB for training purposes, the service can be considered the last major operator fo the MiG-27 - with the Kazakh Air Force deploying only a dozen fighters. Approximately 70 of the strike fighters have been upgraded to the MiG-27ML standard, and they are set to continue to serve as the country’s sole strike fighter for some time to come in a complementary role to the British Jaguar attack jets. As the Indian Air Force moves to expands fleet of MiG-29 fourth generation fighters, and upgrades these to increase their multiple capabilities which allows them to serve in a strike role, it is likely that the more advanced Russian platforms will eventually phase the MiG-27 out of service.