Czech MiG-21 Fishbed CRASH

After a series of military setbacks and aviation crashes, the Czech Republic suffered yet another loss today, when one more MiG-21 Fishbed crashed.
After this latest event, the Czech Air Force is left with only eight (8) MiG-21 Fishbeds as a jet fighter force, four of which will be retired very soon, the other four remaining in service until 2005.
In compensation for such a small number of fighters, the Czech Republic still uses old jet trainers such as L-29 Delfin and L-39ZA Albatros as jet fighters, while in the same time countries which are not yet members of NATO, such as Romania, have already retired the L-29 and will retire the L-39 very soon from their current position as jet trainers.
It is therefore very interesting that the Czech Republic had such an enormous contribution to global security since it has been invited to join NATO in 1997, while Romania was not.
Too bad we have a huge number of capable fighters, tanks and warship, I'd say. If we had four fighters, no warship and twenty tanks, perhaps Romania would have already been a NATO member, together with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, making a great contribution to World Security.

Copyright ©2001 by Sorin A Crasmarelu

november 2001