A new steed for Croatia’s Knights – farewell to the MiG-21

When the Republic of Croatia was formed in 1991, the iconic MiG-21 fighter had already seen service in Yugoslavia since 1962. The Republic of Croatia and it’s air force, Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo or HRZ went through many organizational changes and faced financial and operational challenges, but one thing remained the same. They relied on the MiG-21bis for their national air defence, although a modernized version of the Russian made aircraft, its origins date back to the seventies.

In 2024, Croatia is the last European country flying the MiG-21, after Romania withdrew their MiG-21 LanceR C’s somewhat hastily in 2023 after some accidents. During the Croatian War of Independence lasting from 1991-1995, two squadrons of MiG-21s were operating from Zagreb-Pleso and Pula (Istria). A total of around forty aircraft were operated during a thirty-three year operational career in Croatian service.

Farewell at AIRVG 2024

With a hiatus of six years due to Covid-19, the AIR Velika Gorica (AIRVG) event was held again in May 2024. The air show was held at the former airport terminal at Zagreb’s Dr. Franjo Tuđman Airport, the capital’s main civil airport. Co-located at the airport is the 91 Krilo (91 Wing) of the HRZ. The sole fighter aircraft unit in HRZ inventory is the191 Eskadrila Lovačkih Aviona (ELA 91), operating the MiG-21bisD/UMD. The unit is called “Vitez” (Knight) in Croatian, which is reflected in their unit’s emblem.

Out of the current batch of 12 MiG-21s, which were refurbished and upgraded MiG-21bis aircraft of ‘mixed background’ bought from Ukraine in 2013, only four MiG-21bisD (D for “doradjen” – modified) and two MiG-21UMD remain in operational service. Since their operational life was set at ten years, a follow-up modern fighter jet was sought by the HRZ from 2016 onwards. Ex-Israeli F-16s were blocked in 2018 by the US, a deal for Italian Eurofighters fell through, but eventually in 2021 a deal for twelve used French Rafale multi-role fighters was made. Delivery of the first six examples took place as recent as April 2024, so AIRVG 24 had the honor of providing a public welcome to the French Rafale fighter and boding a farewell to the classic MiG-21.

More than ten entities from the aviation industry operating at or around the city of Velika Gorica have meanwhile teamed up, supporting the VG “Aviation City” charter, with the AIRVG event providing a stage to attract students into the aviation profession. Because of the investments both on the civil as well as on the military side, “modernization” was a secondary topic of the event. Because of safety and security restrictions, a maximum of 10.000 visitors could register for a free entrance ticket and more than 350 international journalists and photographers were welcomed to witness the handover of the air defense task from the MiG-21 to the Rafale.

At the static display of aircraft, all of the helicopter types and most of the fixed wing types of the Croatian Air Force were shown, with the exception of the aerial firefighting and VIP fleet. Both technicians and pilots were available to answer questions, show their aircraft and pose for selfies with aspiring pilots.

With the MiG-21 farewell as an underlying theme, two historic MiGs were put on display to highlight the importance of this fighter. MiG-21UMD “Kockica” (bearing number 165) has been painted in red and white, representing the checkerboard of the Croatian coat of arms and was a crowd pleaser from day one. The aircraft was however found to have wing fuel tank issues in 2017 and is not airworthy anymore, but now lives in the hangars at Pleso and Kockica has earned a place in Croatian aviation history.

The other historical plane was a MiG-21R (26112) known as the “Rudijev MiG” because Croatian pilot Rudolf Perešin defected with this very aircraft from the Yugoslav Air Force to Klagenfurt, Austria on October 25, 1991. After a photo reconnaissance mission over Slovenia, Perešin defected and landed in Austria. Perešin perished in a MiG over Krajina in 1995 during Operacija Bljesak (“Flash”) while flying a CAS mission. His aircraft spent 20 years in Austria, also as a museum piece, and was returned to Croatia several years ago and will be kept for posterity.

 

Flying display at Zagreb Airport

In between regular civil flight operations at Zareb Airport, a small aerial display was held, including a full show by Krila Oluje (Wings of Storm), the HRZ aerobatic team belonging to the other operational wing of HRZ, 93 Krilo from Zemunik.

Worth mentioning also was a simulated extraction of a downed pilot from enemy territory, performed by a Mi-171 and two OH-58Ds providing cover. They operated from nearby Zagreb-Lucko airport, where the Mi-171 and UH-60M have their homebase, although falling under the command of 91 Krilo.

The grand finale of this small airshow was provided by a duo presentation of a MiG-21bisD (number 116) and a Rafale C (number 153). Both aircraft taxied slowly in front of the crowd, and the MiG-21 performed a series of flybys and rolls. Because of the limited number of training hours and QRA responsibilities, a full display routine with the MiG-21 was not possible anymore, but luckily its pilot had no trouble finding the afterburner for some nice turns and burns.

After a joint flypast and some wing-rocking the aircraft split up and landed with the public waving goodbye to the outgoing MiG and welcoming the new Rafale. Hvala Vitez! .

KARO Aviation would like to thank AIRVG24, its director Juraj Odrčić and the team and Major Antonija Trupinić, PRO of HRZ for organizing and supporting this event.