Journey's end for Serbia's MiGs

摘要

According to official data, the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence (SAF&AD) have 26 MiG-21 aircraft still on strength. That number is listed in the report submitted to the Organisation for Security and Organisation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna every December, as part of the Annual Exchange of Military Information. The data covers the technology in the inventory, but the number of MiG-21 s actually in service now is zero. The only surviving MiG-21, a dual-seater MiG- 21UM, 16185, crashed on September 25, 2020. That morning two pilots were tasked with checking the weather situation above central Serbia before flying operations started. Tragically, the pair were killed when their MiG-21 UM hit the ground near Loznica, in the western part of Serbia, while at low-level.