Flying debut for upgraded MiG-21bis at Paris

June 13th, 1999

An upgraded MiG-21bis Lancer 111, the final production variant of the MiG-21 family, is being flown at an international air show for the first time by Aerostar of Romania. This aircraft made its first appearance on static display only at Farnborough International '98, after having been acquired by Aerostar and its partner Elbit Systems of Israel and upgraded to the same standard as the MiG-21MF Lancer programme for the Romanian Air Force.

Of the 110 aircraft involved in that programme, over 80 have now been upgraded and re-delivered to the Romanian Air Force.

The upgraded MiG-21bis made its first official flight on October 9 last year since when it has made over 16 flights and accumulated 13 hours towards the 40- test flight programme. Progress has been rapid and the aircraft has already cleared a large proportion of the flight envelope. Once this flight test programme has been completed this aircraft will be offered for sale.

Aerostar and Elbit are marketing the upgraded MiG-21bis at air forces world-wide that operate this variant. Out of a total production of some 12,000 MiG-21 aircraft, over 2,200 were the bis variant, and the vast majority of the two thousand MiG-21s that remain in service today are the bis version.

Building on their success in the major US$300 million MiG-21 Lancer upgrade programme for the Romanian Air Force, Aerostar and Elbit have succeeded in attracting world-wide interest from air forces seeking to modernise their MiG-21bis inventories. A number of these air forces have asked for the same avionics and weapons systems upgrade as carried out for the Romanian Air Force programme.

The upgraded MiG-21 Lancer family is equipped with multimode radar, advanced avionics and MMI interface, resulting in improved operational performance in air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea missions. Accurate navigation, weapons handling of missiles, bombs and rockets have been enhanced. Smart weapons capability is included. The upgraded aircraft performs high and low altitude missions in all weather conditions and can carry both Eastern and Western weaponry on new pylons, as well as advanced ECM, Laser Designator and Reconnaissance pods.

REF XQQEE XQQAR