CROATIAN FISHBED TO PERFORM AT AIRPOWER22
The organizers of the Airpower Zeltweg announced that the Croatian Air Force will send one of their soon-to-be-retired Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed jet fighters to perform a very rare flying display at the event.
There are 12 modernised MiG-21s (eight single-seat MiG-21bisD and four MiG-21UMD two-seat trainers) currently on strength with the Croatian Air Force (Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo or HRZ) – or, more precisely, with the 191 Eskadrila Lovačkih Aviona (ELA -191st Fighter Aircraft Squadron). The unit, based at Franjo Tudjman Airport, which is also known as Pleso and which is near the country’s capital Zagreb, is subordinated to the local 91 Krilo (91st Wing).
In mid-1991, Croatia proclaimed its independence from the former Yugoslavian federation and soon found itself at war with the Yugoslavian Army that backed the Croatian Serbs in occupying a portion of Croatia. By the end of the year, the fledgling HRZ was formed as part of the Croatian Army and on February 4, 1992, it received its first proper combat aircraft – a MiG-21bis piloted by a Croatian-born Yugoslavian Army pilot defecting to Croatia from an airbase in neighbouring Bosnia. On May 15, two additional MiG-21bis aircraft arrived from Serbia with another pair of defecting pilots, with the three jets being allocated HRZ serials 101 to 103.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames include: "balalaika", because its planform resembles the stringed musical instrument of the same name; "Olowek", Polish for "pencil", due to the shape of its fuselage, and "En Bac", meaning "silver swallow", in Vietnamese. Approximately 60 countries across four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations six decades after its maiden flight. It made aviation records, becoming the most-produced supersonic jet aircraft in aviation history, the most-produced combat aircraft since the Korean War and, previously, the longest production run of any combat aircraft (now exceeded by both the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon).
