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The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (NATO reporting names: Fishbed and Mongol) is the first, and so far only, type of fighter jet to see service with the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence. The first aircraft to come into Croatian possession were three MiG-21bis flown by Croatian defectors from the Yugoslav Air Force during the early stages of the Croatian War of Independence. Further aircraft were acquired in 1994 from Ukraine and by the end of the war in 1995, the Croatian Air Force operated over twenty MiG-21s organized in two fighter squadrons. The MiG-21s saw most action during the later stages of the war during operations Flash and Storm, mostly performing low level ground-attack sorties. The Air Force lost two aircraft to enemy air defenses with both pilots being killed in action. A number of them were damaged during Operation Storm but managed to return to base.

By the early 2000s the MiG-21 fleet was downsized into a single squadron consisting of twelve aircraft which were overhauled and slightly modernized by Aerostar in Romania as an intermediate step before buying new Western fighters. The economical recession in 2009 resulted in significant reductions to the Croatian defence budget, leaving the Air Force with aging aircraft in need of replacement. A new attempt at prolonging the MiG-21s service life and keeping the Air Force's combat fleet happened in 2013 when seven existing aircraft were sent to Ukraine for overhaul while an additionl five were bought from the same source.

In total, the Croatian Air Force lost eight aircraft during the period of over twenty years, five of which were non-combat related incidents with the last one happening on 5 August 2014. After the completion of the overhaul in Ukraine, Croatian MiG-21s should be airworthy until 2024 by which time a decision should be made if the Air Force is to acquire new modern aircraft, or completly disband its fighter force, leaving the task of air policing its air space to other NATO countries.

Background
Before it declared independence in 1991, Croatia was part of SFR Yugoslavia as a socialist state. With the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija – JNA) and its branches being organized as a multinational force tasked with protecting the whole of Yugoslavia, it was composed of personnel of different ethnic backgrounds, including Croats.

The Yugoslav Air Force (Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana – RV i PVO) operated a large number of MiG-21s in various versions as well as a single squadron of MiG-29s that were acquired as a stopgap measure before the indigenously built Novi Avion entered service as a successor of the MiG-21. The first MiG-21s entered service with the Yugoslav Air Force in 1962, with the last ones being MiG-21bis delivered in the early 1980s. The aircraft were operated from a number of bases, including those located in SR Croatia such as Pula in the Istra region and Željava Air Base on the border between SR Croatia and SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1991 the MiG-21 was still the most numerous fighter in service with the JRV i PVO with over 160 aircraft in service.

With the start of the Croatian War of Independence, a number of officers left the Yugoslav People's Army to join the newly formed Croatian Army. Among them were also pilots and mechanics including the last JRV i PVO commander Anton Tus, which would represent the core of the Croatian Air Force that was formed in October 1991.

http://www.osrh.hr/Data/HTML/HR/O%20NAMA/HRZ/20140220_Op%C4%87enito_o_HRZ-u_i_PZO-u/Op%C4%87enito_o_HRZ-u_i_PZO-u_HR.htm

Service history
http://arhiva.nacional.hr/clanak/28465/prvi-put-nakon-rata-otkriveni-originalni-racuni-za-oruzje

First aircraft
The first attempt at eqiuping the newly formed Croatian Air Force with a fighter jet happened on 25 October 1991 when Rudolf Perešin defected from the Yugoslav Air Force with his reccoinasance MiG-21R. After taking of from Željava Air Base, Perešin reported the meterological situation was unfavorable for further aircraft to follow, leaving him alone in the air. Perešin continued, overflying Slovenia and landing his MiG-21 in Klagenfurt in Austria because of fears that if he landed it in Zagreb, the Yugoslav Air Force would destroy it. His MiG-21R eventually remained in Austria, while he returned Croatia becoming the first commander of the 21st Fighter Squadron. More successful defections follwed in 1992. On 4 February Danijel Borović flew his MiG-21bisK, serial number 17133, from Željava to Pula giving the Croatian Air Force its first MiG-21. The aircraft was painted with Croatian markings including the numbwe 101 and a large Croatian flag on its fin. The last two pilots to the defect with their aircraft were Ivan Selak and Ivica Ivandić. They took of on 15 May with Selak landing in Zagreb and Ivandić in Split. Their aircraft recieved numbers 102 and 103 and nicknames "Osvetnik Vukovara" (Avenger of Dubrovnik) and "Osvetnik Dubrovnika" (Avenger of Dubrovnik) after the cities of Vukovar and Dubrovnik which were badly damaged during the Battle of Vukovar and the Siege of Dubrovnik.

The three MiG-21s were organized into the 1st Figter Squadron (Croatian: 1. Lovačka Eskadrila), and immediatly pressed in to service performing strike mission on RSK-held territory as well as Bosnia. The first loss happened on 24 June 1992 when the Air Force's first MiG-21 (101) was shot down near Slavonski Brod killing its pilot Antun Radoš. The crash was a result of a friendly fire incident with Croatian ground troops mistakenly engaging Radoš's MiG-21 with either a 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14 Gremlin) or a 9K38 Igla. Further actions by Croatian MiG-21s included an attempt at destroying Serbian 9K52 Luna-M systems in September of 1993. The mission was unssuccseful with another MiG-21 (102, "Osvetnik Vukovara") being shot down in the process, killng the pilot Miroslav Peris.

http://tangosix.rs/2013/05/06/hrvatska-remontuje-mig-ove-21-u-ukrajni/

Additional aircraft and later operations
Despite the imposed arms embargo, between 1993 and 1994 Croatia purchased up to 40 MiG-21s from Ukraine. The aircraft were transfered to Poland where they were dissasembled and delievered to Croatia through Slovakia and Hungary. Out of those 40, some 24-25 were commissioned forming two fighter squadrons, the 21st (21. Eskadrila Lovačkih Zrakoplova — 21. ELZ) stationed in Zagreb and the 22nd (22. Eskadrila Lovačkih Zrakoplova — 22. ELZ) stationed in Pula, with the rest being used for spare parts. The new MiG-21s also saw the introduction of a new paint scheme, featurding a two tone cammouflage, with a light blue underside.

The new aircraft soon participated in the offensives carried out by the Croatian Army. Just months before the start of major operations, on 21 April 1995, one of the new MiGs was lost during a training excersise on the Gašinci weapons range, resulting in the death of its pilot, Zlatko Mejaški. A major offensive carried out in Western Slavonia codenamed Operation Flash started on 1 May with MiG-21s taking part in it. On the second day of the operation, MiG-21bis number 119 piloted by Perešin was shot down near Bosanska Gradiška. Although presumed dead, it wasn't until 1997 that his body was returned to his family. MiG-21s were also used during Operation Storm (Croatian: Operacija Oluja), the last major offensive on Croatian territory which began on 4 August. The MiGs were tasked with striking rebel-Serb communications, command posts, storage sites and a bridge. The first day of the operation saw sorties by 13 MiG-21s with one sustaining heavy damage beacuse of flying low in the treeline but managed to return to base, with an additional three sustaining light damage from enemy fire. On the last day of the operation, two MiG-21s were tasked with a combat air patrol in the Kutina area that came under attack the previous days. Two J-22 Oraos strike aircraft indeed attacked the Kutina Petrokemija chemical factor, but for unknown reasons the MiG-21s were unsuccessful at engaging them. During close-air support (CAS) missions MiG-21s usually engaged in low-level attacks with unguided bombs and rockets of different calibers. The Air Force also maintained a small stock of thermobaric ODAB-500PM bombs, with at least one being used in the Petrinja area during Operation Storm.

http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Hrvatska/Danijel-Borovic-Htio-sam-se-katapultirati-iz-MIG-a-21-iznad-Rijeke

Post-war service and modernization
During the late 1990s and early 2000s one of the possibilites for upgrading Croatian MiG-21s was sending them to Israel for modernization. This was further confirmed in July 2000 when Goran Granić visited Israel and stated the 110 million dollar worth deal should be carried out by Israeli defence companys if Croatian indeed decided to modernize its MiG-21 fleet.

http://arhiva.morh.hr/vijesti_main.asp?id=62

http://obris.org/hrvatska/tihom-nabavom-po-remont-i-kupovinu-mig-21/

http://arhiva.nacional.hr/clanak/42432/hrvatska-eskadrila-na-zimovanju

http://www.jutarnji.hr/nove-fotografije-odbacenih-mig-ova--propadaju--a-mogli-letjeti-nakon-remonta-/925568?foto=1

http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20030520/mozaik01.asp http://obris.org/hrvatska/odluceno-o-remontu-postojecih-mig-21/

In May 2008, three MiG-21s took off for a rehersal flyby of Karlovac in preparation for the Armed Forces Day. While overflying the city stadium at a speed of 950 km/, one of the MiG-21s flaps tore off, most likely because of metal fatigue. The pilot immediatelly broke formation and landed safely at the Zagreb Airport. The pilot was decorated by the President for, and was later also awarded the Ponos Hrvatske award.

2010 crash and aftermath
On 23 September 2010 four MiG-21s took off from Zagreb to conduct CAS training on the "Eugen Kvaternik" weapons range near Slunj. At around 12:30, MiGs numbers 108 and 120 piloted by Igor Trošelj and Mario Kudlik crashed with both pilots successfully ejecting and sustaining only minor injuries. The crash resulted in an uncontrolled launch of a unguided missile on one of the MiGs, which landed a few kilometers farther and badly injurying a 69-year old woman. Although initial reports suggested that the cause of the crash was a canopy that broke of from one of the MiGs and crashing into another one, this later proved to be false. An investigation carried out by the MoD concluded the official cause was pilot error. During the flight, Trošelj who acted as group leader conducted manouvers that were planned out and without notifying his wingmates. The same was done by Kudlik.

The crash was also covered in the weekly magazine Novosti published by the Serb National Council. The front page featured two Croatian MiG-21s flying downwards with a message "Obadva, obadva su pala" (Both of them, both of them are down). The message was a quote from a Croatian soldier who shouted the words while watching the downing of two Yugoslav Air Force aircraft in 1991 by Croatian forces. The cover was criticised by the Croatian Ministry of Defence, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Croatian Helsinki Committee and veterans organizations.

The difficult situation on which the MiG-21 fleet was at the time was described by Vlado Bagarić who was the commander of the Air Force at the time, in a letter to the Chief of the General Staff Josip Lucić, five months before the two MiGs crashed. He explained the MiGs were facing a lack of tires and spare engines which resulted in the cancellation of night training in late 2009 and the training of new flight instructors. Between 2009 and 2010, MiG-21 pilots recieved no more than three to four flight hours in six months. Usually this totaled to 40 flight hours a year, which was still insufficient compared to 90 - 100 hours which were deemed as a minimum. Combat training was also periodical. The last ground attack excersise happened in 2006 with the next one carried out four years later and ending with the loss of the two aircraft.

http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/novosti/hrvatska/clanak/id/158744/jadran-ostao-bez-zastite-mig-ova

Overhaul in Ukraine
On 27 November 2012 during the 8th meeting of the parlamentary Defence Committee, vice-minister Višnja Tafra announced that the Ministry of Defence plans on overhauling its MiG-21 fleet for which it allocated 80 million kunas. Based on an earlier evaluation by experts from Russia, seven aircraft the Air Force had in active service or in storage were declared as fit for an overhaul. These included three MiG-21bisD (116, 117 and 118) and four MiG-21UMDs (164, 165, 166 and 167). The loss of two MiG-21bisDs in 2010 and the decommissioning of three others was to be compensated by acquiring an additional five single-seats. By May 2013 two companies, Aerostar from Romania and Ukrspecexport from Ukraine submited offers. On 10 June 2013 the Ministry of Defence officially announced that the MiG-21s would be overhauld in Odessa, Ukraine by the state-owned company Ukrspecexport. The additional five aircraft that were to be acquired were former Yemeni Air Force MiG-21bis that Ukrspecexport overhauled during the early 2000s but remained in Ukraine after Yemen refused to pay citing unsatisfatory work done on the aircraft. Several Croatian news reports from 2012 and 2013 dealed with the topic of the ownership of the MiGs with claims the aircraft still belonged to Yemen. This was later settled when the Ukrainian side offered documents confirming their ownership of the aircraft.

Although the first three aircraft were to be delivered to Croatia until 15 October 2013, the overhaul process proved to be more difficult than expected and further complicated by the War in Donbas. When asked about the status of the MiGs in Ukraine, Minister of Defence Ante Kotromanović promised that despite setbacks, five aircraft would be in Croatia by mid-December. However, by January 2014 not a single aircraft was delivered, with Croatian test pilot Selak who was testing the MiGs in Odessa reported problems with the communications systems. After successful tests on part of the aircraft in Ukraine, on 12 April 2014 the first two MiG-21bisDs, numbers 131 and 132, arrived in Croatia by road, along with Ukrainian technicians who helped assemble the aircraft and perform additional tests before they were recommissioned with the Air Force. By 25 July, seven overhauled aircraft were in Croatian, with two of them (131 and )completing all tests and being reinstated in to the Air Force. Even as the aircraft started slowly ariving, it soon became apparent the worked done in Ukraine wasn't satisfactional. The process of reinstating the overhauled aircraft became problematic because additional work was needed to get the to fully operational status. Croatian technicans and test pilots working on the newly purchased ex-Yemeni MiGs reported problems with the radars, IFF systems and even fuel leakeages. On 28 September an alleged techinican working on the MiGs appeared in a TV show "Svjedoci" commenting on the work done, with his identity hidden. He revelaved the reason the aircraft arrived to Croatia by road was because they weren't fully operational in Ukraine. He explanied the rubber fuel tanks in the wings were old, insufficient ammount of oil in the hydraulics systems and the inabillity to fully extend all three wheels of the landing gear. He further explanied that Croatia purchased ten million Kunas worth of spare parts which were delivered with valid new papers while the parts themselves were old and used.

With its entire perspective fleet of aircraft being overhauled in Ukarine, the Air Force was left with just two operational MiG-21bisDs, 121 and 122, both of which.

http://www.defender.hr/republika-hrvatska/oruzane-snage/hrz-preuzeo-danas-drugi-remontirani-borbeni-avion-mig-21-regoznake-131.php

http://obris.org/hrvatska/kockica-opet-leti/

5 August crash
On 5 August 2014 five MiG-21s participated in the Victory Day celebration performing a pass over the Knin Fortress during the flag raising ceremony. After the completion of the flyby four MiGs continued towards the Zemunik Air Force Base where they were exhibited as a part of the "Open Doors Day" for the general public. During its landing approach, one of the newly overhauled aircraft, the single-seat number 135 piloted by colonel Stanko Hrženjak, suffered a malfunction with its landing gear causing its left wheel to remain locked. After several attempts, Hrženjak successfully released the problematic third wheel and landed safely. After the event came to an end, three MiGs were to return to Zagreb while 135 would remain in Zemunik until the cause of the landing gear malfunction was sorted out. With his aircraft grounded and being one of the most experienced MiG pilots, Hrženjak was told that he would be piloting 121 back to Zagreb.

After a successful take off and flight towards Zagreb, Hrženjak once again suffered a landing gear problem making him unable to land at the Zagreb Airport. Just as the landing gear finally fully deployed, the aircraft´s engine caught on fire forcing Hrženjak to maneuver his MiG towards an unpopulated area and eject. The airplane crashed at 14:47 in the Donja Lomnica area near Velika Gorica. Hrženjak succesfully ejected while the aircraft crashed in an empty field with the canopy landing in the backyard of a nearby house without hurting anyone on the ground. The following investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was a malfunction of the aircraft's hydraulics systems which started a chain reaction of mechanical failures culminating with the engine catching on fire.

2016 investigation and partial grounding
On 21 March 2016 Jutarnji List revealed that the Military Police was investigating the purchase and overhaul of Croatian MiG-21s in Ukraine. The investigation was carried out on the suspicion that a the aircraft's documentation had been falsified, and a bribe had been payed to mask this fact. Allegedly, aircraft purchased by the HRZ i PZO were in fact 4-5 years older than original thought and were assembled from parts of decommissioned Algerian and Bulgarian MiG-21s whose serial numbers were forged in order to hide their true origin.

http://obris.org/hrvatska/nabava-i-remont-mig-ova-neke-optuzbe-i-obrana/

Aircraft on display
http://www.osrh.hr/Data/HTML/HR/O%20NAMA/HRZ/20140911_MIG-21_predan_Udruzi_dragovoljaca_i_veterana_Domovinskog_rata/MIG-21_predan_Udruzi_dragovoljaca_i_veterana_Domovinskog_rata_HR.htm


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