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HUNGARY SAYS FAREWELL TO THE MIG-21

The grand-scale farewell party in Papa brought back memories of times long since passed: three formations each of five MiG-21bis (NATO code "Fishbed N") and MiG-21UM ("Mongol B") thundered one last time over the heads of the many invited guests and the families of servicemen, and a specially painted MiG-21bis performed its final solo display. As the pilots and technicians fell in for the last roll-call in front of the aircraft, many of them had tears in their eyes.

As in all the countries of the former Warsaw Pact, the MiG-21 had been the standard fighter in the Magyar Legiero for almost 40 years. That Hungary should now be the first European country to withdraw it from service, is tantamount to a historic turning-point.

The Hungarian Air Force had taken delivery of its first twelve MiG-21F-13's in 1961, followed by another 24 aircraft in 1962 and a further twelve in 1963. Over the next two years 24 of the MiG-21PF upgrade were delivered to Papa and Taszar. In addition, Hungary received 64 two-seater trainer versions, designated MiG-21U and US, in the 1960s.

In 1971 the much improved MiG-21MF variant entered service with the Hungarian Air Force, and between then and 1974 a total of 48 aircraft were delivered. They continued flying in Papa until the end of 1996. Meanwhile, between 1971 and 1980 another 25 MiG-21UM's were delivered and allocated to Kecskemet and Papa. The last and most modern version to be delivered to the armed forces was the MiG-21bis, of which a total of 62 aircraft were acquired from 1975 onwards. However, due to its flying characteristics this version was less popular among the pilots than the MiG-21MF.

The remaining MiG-21bis were allocated to 1 Fighter Squadron "Saman" (Shaman) and the MiG-21UM's to 2 Fighter Squadron "Griff" (Griffin). Both squadrons belonged to 47 Fighter Regiment.

The plan was to scrap not only the MiG-21s but also the MiG-23s, which had arrived in Papa two years earlier, and the Su-22's. However, as a result of a parliamentary question put to Defence Minister Janos Szabo by his own Smallholders' Party, a reprieve from the order to be scrapped was granted to the airworthy MiG-21bis and UM's, some of which still had a considerable number of flying hours remaining.

This action shows the tensions within the government. But there are also far-reaching differences of opinion between the government and the Army. The Chief of Staff, General Lajos Fodor, had observed critically after the decommissioning of the MiG21, that withdrawing the MiG fighters of Soviet origin from service had been a political decision as the armed forces were adapted to Nato standards.

Meanwhile the closure of the base at Papa developed into a political scandal. Papa is the only fighter base in Hungary to be fitted with shelters, and in recent years there had also been investment by Nato in its radar systems. As a result, investment totalling around $5 million has to be repaid to Nato. The Mayor of the town of Papa is said to be particularly interested in the departure of the military as he would like to open a thermal bath, sports complex and a hotel on the site.

The decommissioning of the MiG-21 and the relinquishment of the Papa airfields are a further step in the slimming down of the Magyar Legiero. In the spring of 2000 another air base, Tokol, was shut down. The An-26's stationed there were transferred to Szolnok, and the four Zlin 43 communications aircraft were sold. Also sold were the twelve Aerostar Jak-52 basic trainers which had only been purchased from Romania in 1994 and belonged to the also defunct flying academy in Szolnok. Basic flying training is now to be contracted out to the private sector.

Szolnok air base itself is also set to close before long. The aircraft stationed there (six An-26 transport aircraft plus Mi-2 and Mi-8 helicopters) will then be transferred to the helicopter base at Szentkiralyszabadja, where two Mi-24D-equipped attack helicopter squadrons, one transport helicopter squadron equipped with the Mi-8T and one mixed transport helicopter squadron equipped with Mi-8T, Mi-17, Mi-9 and Mi-17PP are already stationed. With Papa no longer operational, there are plans to relocate one tactical element of two MiG-29s from Kecskemet to Szentkiralyszabadja.

As a result of all these measures, out of the 23 bases which the Hungarian Air Force still possessed in 1991, only Kecskemet and Szentkiralyszabadja will be left, as Taszar will continue in the foreseeable future to be only used by the Americans.

Meanwhile the issue of procuring a new fighter aircraft remains unresolved. The top contenders are the Saab JAS 39 Gripen and the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon. There is a strong lobby in favour of the F-16 in Hungary, and various versions and different financing models (ranging from leasing through purchasing the old F-16A's and F-16B's in the desert for a nominal price to purchasing new F-16C/D's) are on offer. But recently support has been growing for the idea of buying some more MiG-29's from Russia, which would have the advantage that it could be offset against debts owed.

Quite apart from this, Hungary plans to modernise its 20 MiG-29's and its six two-seater MiG-29UB's to Nato standards, and this was in fact the subject of an agreement concluded with Dasa (now EADS) last spring. However, the Americans have made clear their opposition to this proposal: with crass insensitivity the American ambassador in Hungary described the modernisation of the MiG-29 in August as "a waste of money" since even after modernisation these aircraft would not be able to take part in Nato missions. Political observers interpreted this highly questionable way of conducting diplomacy as interference in the internal affairs of Hungary.

In any case the pressure on the government is growing, and a decision could therefore be taken in the course of 2001 even though the most recent indications were that for financial reasons procurement of a replacement fighter was out of the question over the next five years.

From page 60 of FLUG REVUE 1/2001