Romanian Mig-21 Lancer upgrade
Posted on 05/01/2007 9:17:04 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
F-15, MiGs match up for exercise in Romania
By Bryan Mitchell, Stars and Stripes European edition, Wednesday, May 2, 2007
MIHAIL KOGALNICEACU AIR BASE, Romania — Romanian air force Lt. Cmdr. Moise Daniel had been watching the F-15 Eagle for years from afar, but never imagined he’d one day have the opportunity to dogfight the American fighter jet.
“I’ve only seen this aircraft on the Discovery Channel, and I never thought I would get to fly against it,” the 33-year-old MiG-21 pilot said after a morning of air-to-air combat training. “It was an unbelievable opportunity where I learned a lot from them.”
Daniel was one of the dozens of Romanian air force airmen who participated in the two-week Exercise Sniper Lance, which saw approximately 200 England-based airmen from the 100th Air Refueling Wing and the 48th Fighter Wing deploy to this former Eastern Bloc state.
Two RAF Mildenhall-based KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling jets and a dozen RAF Lakenheath-based F-15 Eagles arrived at this base near the Black Sea town of Constanta on April 20 and will depart later this week.
Exercise Sniper Lance comes on the heels of training between the Romanian Air Force and the U.S. Air Forces in Europe in 2006.
It’s also part of a growing military relationship between the two nations that will eventually include the air base being home to a U.S. Joint Task Force run primarily by the Army with support from the Air Force, according to Col. Steven Dreyer, USAFE liaison officer to U.S Army Europe.
“The Romanians have been nothing but excellent partners,” Dreyer said.
Daniel, who participated in last year’s exercise with the Spangdahlem, Germany-based 22nd Fighter Expeditionary Squadron, said the training was intended to be more educational than competitive.
“This is not a competition. We’re here to learn from each other,” he said. “Clearly, the MiG-21 has no chance against the F-15 in a dogfight. So we try to do other things that surprise the F-15, things to make the training more interesting and valuable.”
One of Daniel’s American counterparts, Capt. David Anderson, 28, Bellville, Texas, concurred.
“The small size and their speed during acceleration make them (MiG-21s) a formidable adversary,” Anderson said. “The aircraft have different capabilities, and that makes the training realistic. In real combat, I’m not going to fight another F-15.”
Anderson also boasted on the training environment.
“We have from the surface up to 55,000 feet to fly, which provides us a combatlike environment,” Anderson said.
Romanian Air Force Maj. Cristian Popovici said playing host to the F-15s is an invaluable opportunity for pilots from both air forces.
“Everyone knows about the F-15, but the MiG can still be a powerful weapon,” he said. “It’s small and quick, and if it’s not seen the first time it can be deadly.”
Romanian Mig-21 Lancer upgrade
Should we consider you now out of the closet?
If you are referring to a MiG with a NATO codname of Faggot, then that is the MiG-15.
If I was a young man in the military, I would be in heaven being based on Romania. The women are absolutely drop dead beautiful and the country is majority catholic. And unlike the spoiled pampered socialists in western europe, Romanians appreciate everything the US did to breakdown the USSR and help free them from communist oppression.
The same attitude you will find in Poland.
Kind of interesting sign of the times.
Tom Cruise could beat the MIG 21 in fake F-14.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 and Shenyang J-5 “Fresco”
Fresco
=-P~~
MIG-17 “Fiece_of_Crap”
Just kidding - Fresco
QSL and thanks guys!
A name like BIGLOOK and you forgot the NATO designation for a Mig-17?
Thirty lashes.
Romania is 85% Orthodox
Catholics are under 5%
Your right about the women though
Well,as the pilots in the article said,the Mig-21 can spring a surprise or 2 if it comes upclose if armed with the new Israeli Python series or Russian AA-11s.Fat chance,though.
I remember being commercially propositioned by a nice one named Kristina in a Vienna nightclub in 1991. Too bad my cheesy expense account couldn't absorb it.
< }B^)
What I don’t understand about this excercise is the point.
The Mig was introduced in 1959 and the F-15 in 1976, was it like a “classic car race” thing?
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