India’s aging MiG-21 shoots down Pakistani F-16 in dogfight

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NEW DELHI: “R-73 selected,” was the last radio transmission of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from his MiG-21 “Bison” fighter jet. He then let loose the Vympel R-73 air-to-air missile at the Pakistani F-16 fighter in his cross-hairs before he himself was shot down.

The high-altitude dogfight between supersonic Indian and Pakistani fighters, after the latter breached Indian airspace west of Rajouri in Sunderbani area around 10 am on February 27, transfixed the nation. The dogfight ended with Varthaman in Pakistan’s custody after parachuting down in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Varthaman was among the six MiG-21 pilots who scrambled from Srinagar, apart from Sukhoi-30MKIs, Mirage-2000s and MiG-29s being deployed from other airbases, to intercept the Pakistani fighters. “We knew they would react after our Balakot strikes, but did not expect them to retaliate so soon,” said an officer.

The rival fighters were soon chasing each other in the ensuing dogfight, with the entire air battle lasting for around 15 minutes from beginning to finish. Varthaman in his MiG-21, which has a design vintage of the 1960s, managed to “lock on” to a much more modern Pakistani F-16. At such close-quarters, the short-ranger R-73 missile is preferred over the longer range RVV-AE medium-range air-to-air missiles also carried by MiG-21s.

“The R-73 is better in such a melee. This is probably the first time a Russian-origin MiG-21 has shot down an American F-16 anywhere in the world,” said another officer.

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