Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Cuban MiG-21s to North Korea intercepted in Panama

Is that Snoopy or the Red Baron?

This is too good to be true. Such a fun story. First, a short video:


What they've found so far in the ship: 240 metric tons of "obsolete defensive weapons", including two Volga(!) and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles "in parts and spares", two MiG-21s and 15 engines for the MiGs.

This leads to the question, people still use MiG-21s? Apparently, a lot do. Current operators include:
  • Angola
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cuba
  • Egypt
  • Ethiopia
  • India
  • Libya
  • North Korea
  • Romania
  • Serbia
  • Uganda
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
And here are the current operators of the Chinese variant, the Chengdu J7:
  • Bangladesh
  • China
  • Ehypt
  • Iran
  • Myanmar
  • Namibia
  • Nigeria
  • North Korea
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
  • Sudan
  • Tanzania
  • Zimbabwe

1 comment:

zackswheels said...

MiGs are awesome, even if the MiG 21 never lived up the hype. Its a good sturdy airframe.