Within the NATO community, one air arm is still operating the MiG-21, the Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo or Croatian Air Force which fly daily missions with the venerable, Russian-origin fighter, protecting the South-eastern flank of NATO territory. This classic fighter is still going strong, as Patrick Dirksen and Frank Mink witnessed during a recent visit to Zagreb-Pleso airbase.
In 2012, the two Croatian MiG-21 units, 21 Squadron from Pleso and 22 Squadron from Pula, merged to form the 'Eskadrila Borbenih Aviona' (EBA) or simply, Fighter Squadron. To preserve their history, squadron badge of the new unit is a combination of the helmet and shield from 21 Squadron and the 'Boskarin' or flying bull of 22 Squadron.
The EBA operates from Baza 91, as Pleso is known by the military, with eight MiG-21bisD single seaters in their inventory plus four MiG-21UMD twin-seaters. The ‘D’ in the designation stands for 'Dogradnja' or 'upgraded', which was added after the aircraft got updated by Aerostar in 2014. Apart from a regular overhaul, this included a life span extension programme. The navigation equipment has also been updated with a Garmin GPS 400 set, VOR NAV and ILS system, the radio system replaced and a second radio installed.
The MiG-21 is a robust and reliable aircraft that is adored by pilots of the EBA! They agree that it may be hard to fly in certain flight regimes, but when one respects limits of the aircraft, “it’s an impressive aircraft”. Croatian Air Force pilots with “satisfactory experience” on other aircraft types within the Air Force can apply for selection to fly the MiG-21. Once they have passed the selection process, the pilot goes through type conversion at Pleso, which is carried out at this base since Pula was closed.
The conversion training is followed by basic fighter manoeuvres (BFM) training, which includes live firing. The MiG-21 has a GSh-23 (23 mm) double-barrel cannon with 250 rounds and can also be armed with up to four AA-8 Atol rockets, or R-60M missiles. Some single seat MiG-21s are locally converted to carry an MKM-1 container, which holds a target towed behind the aircraft. When used for air-to-air live firing, an RP-3 target indicator is extended from the container for 1200 metres. The Croatian built system is also used for AAA practice, in which case, an RP-1 target indicator is towed using a 600m line. The indicator creates a magnetic field and registers all rounds coming close or hitting it, as they disturb this magnetic field. A real time connection with the ground station enables the pilot to ‘hear’ his score almost immediately, giving him time to adjust his aim if necessary for the next run.
When live firing training is done with the rockets, another MiG-21 drops a parachute flare, which then acts as target. Alternatively two MiG-21s fly in formation, one fires a flare decoy and then moves away, so the other MiG can fire on the decoy. It takes special training to be allowed to fly a target towing aircraft or fire the decoy!
The squadron operates at Pleso from a hangar which has history, used by the Royal Air Force in 1945. This hangar was earlier erected in Africa during World War II before being disassembled and rebuild in Zagreb. Next to this hangar, which is used for daily flying operations and maintenance, a brand new, state-of-the-art QRA facility was established in 2017. This air-conditioned hangar holds three aircraft on 15 minutes alert, following NATO requirements for ‘RS’ or Readiness State 15. In practice, however, less than 10 minutes is more than enough to have two aircraft up in the air, one of the advantages of these relatively old and therefore less complicated MiG-21s.
In the crew building next to the QRA hangar, two pilots and seven technicians are on 24/7 alert, with their shift lasting 7 days. In practice, flying is normally only done between sunrise and sunset, because the pilots depend on visual identification. At least once a week, a practice scramble is performed. The QRA hangar has large screens in front of the aircraft projecting relevant data for an interception (course, location, speed, altitude, type of aircraft if known), so the pilots can imbibe this while starting up. A traffic light is installed in the hangar to indicate ‘go’ or ‘abort’ in case radio communication is lost.
Most interceptions involve airliners and private aircraft because of a loss of contact or because they are 'lost in space and time'. During our visit, a training interception mission was flown. A PC-9 from Zadar-Zemunik acted as a slow flying aircraft, operating at flight level 250. This type of aircraft is difficult to intercept by jet fighters because of the very low speed (less than 400 km/h indicated airspeed), so the Croatian Air Force have developed special procedures for this type of interception. These include different patterns for aircraft flying above and below 6000 m. In this case, Major Perio and Major Turk, flying as Knight 04, successfully intercepted the PC-9 a couple of times, proving the MiG-21 might be old but is still very much capable of doing its job of protecting the Croatian airspace!
Back in 2005, the MiG-21UMD with serial 165 was chosen to be painted up in an attractive colour scheme, reason being the 10th anniversary of ‘Operacija Oluja’ or ‘Operation Storm’, which marked end of the Homeland War for the Croats on 5 August 1995. This fighter was also presented to the public on this date during a military fly past to commemorate Operation Storm. The now world famous red and white blocked aircraft is nicknamed ‘Kockika’ or ‘Little Cube’, and represents the Croatian spirit and uniqueness.
The authors would like to thank Colonel Ćorić for the unlimited hospitality, leading to this article.
All text and photos: Patrick Dirksen & Frank Mink of Tristar Aviation