Nigerian Aircraft - As for the 20 MiG-21s, their limited flying hours means they could theoretically still offer many more years of service. However, their storage in the open for upwards of 30 years suggests that bringing them back to airworthiness could be a significant undertaking — provided it's even possible.
A Nigerian air force spokesman told CNN Thursday afternoon that the fighter jet had been deployed to provide air support to ground troops, who were under fire from Boko Haram fighters before radar contact was lost.
Nigerian Aircraft
After a dispute about fishing rights on Lake Chad in April 1983, Nigerian MiG-21s are said to have attacked several lakeside villages, leaving as many as 90 dead and many more wounded, according to an account in Vic Fintham's Air Wars and Aircraft.
The performance specifications, as provided by the vendor, are, it must be said, a mixed bag. While the stated 1,385 miles per hour maximum speed of the MiG is undoubtedly pretty spectacular, the combat radius figure of 310 miles is less than impressive.
When analyzed closely, however, the explosion includes a thin smoke trail immediately above the plane – at odds with its trajectory. The smoke trail and the shape and color of the fireball are identical to a mid-air explosion of a helicopter over the Syrian city of Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, near Idlib, in 2012.
There is a remote possibility that the MiG-21s might interest a civilian contractor, for potential adversary services or other military support work. However, although the basic Fishbed still offers supersonic performance, its lack of any modern avionics and sensors means that it provides very limited capabilities for Red Air aggressor work.
The level of safety the type offers may also be an issue. In mid-2004, reports emerged that a Russian-Israeli consortium had offered to overhaul and return to service "all 23 remaining NAF MiG-21s." Instead, however, it appears that Nigeria selected a rival offer for similar work from the Romanian company Aerostar working together with Israel's Elbit.
A similar upgrade has also been undertaken on Mozambique's MiG-21 fleet and the same two companies collaborated in the LanceR upgrade for the Romanian Air Force MiG-21 fleet. The Nigerian deal was shelved after the government apparently failed to secure the required funds.
"It is evident that most parts of the video were deliberately doctored to give the false impression that the aircraft was shot down" when it was "obviously an air accident," the NAF said in a statement posted on Facebook Friday.
Boko Haram has increased attacks against the Nigerian military as it tries to regain control of lost territories in pockets of Nigeria's northeast. Frequent air raids by the Nigerian military have continued to rattle the insurgents – dislodging them from their hideouts.
With MiG-21s still active with multiple operators around the world, there may well be interest in acquiring these jets as a spare parts source, especially as they are being offered with 15 apparently unused engines. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, seven nations still fly or have recently flown, MiG-21s, and some of those aircraft have been upgraded to extend their service life further.
"We don't know if there is a crash yet. We remain very hopeful that we will get our pilots alive ... we are very optimistic about that, but at the moment we can't say what has happened to the aircraft," said Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet.
The incident came just over a month after an aircraft belonging to the Nigerian air force crashed after take-off from Abuja – killing everyone on board. The plane was on a mission to rescue kidnapped schoolchildren in Niger State, northwest Nigeria, the then spokesman for the air force told CNN.
Ultimately, Nigeria turned to China to fulfill its fighter jet requirements, introducing in 2010 the Chengdu F-7, which is a much-modernized Chinese development of the MiG-21. More recently, the NAF has ordered three JF-17 Thunder aircraft that are scheduled to be delivered in 2021.
Gabkwet did not immediately confirm how many airmen were on board the aircraft. He, however, told CNN that the missing plane was not the only fighter jet on routine operation at the time of its disappearance.
Speaking on efforts to trace the missing plane, Gabkwet said the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, had arrived at Maiduguri, the Borno capital – where he “was briefed on ongoing search and rescue efforts in connection with the missing Alpha Jet aircraft
.” The various jets have apparently seen relatively little use, with the MiG-21bis having between 34 and 169 flying hours on each airframe, while the MiG-21MFs have between 250 and 469, according to the listing. Finally, the two-seat models have accumulated between 199 and 547 hours each.
The MiG-21's operational service with the NAF included participation in a deployment to the northeast of the country in the early 1980s, to support an Organization of African Unity (OAU) peacekeeping mission in neighboring Chad. Flying from Maiduguri, the MiG-21s apparently flew several reconnaissance sorties over Chad, and reportedly, on occasion, even landed on various dirt strips in that country.
Eventually, most of the Nigerian MiGs were withdrawn from service and put into storage during the early 1990s. Since then, they have been left in the open at Makurdi, in eastern Nigeria. At least one single-seat example has been preserved, now serving as the gate guard at Abuja Air Base, as seen below:
The offer, posted on the trade-a-plane.com website, is being made by the Inter Avia Group, which is based in Nevada. No prices are listed for the jets, the vendor instead requests that any interested customers contact them directly for more information.
Up for grabs are 11 MiG-21bis single-seat fighters, five of the earlier-model MiG-21MF single-seat fighters, and four MiG-21UM Mongol two-seat trainers. While no claims are made about the airworthiness of these antique jets, they have now been grounded for many years.
The video clip, published by the SITE Intelligence Group and circulating across Nigerian media, shows multiple fighters shooting into the air before a blast lights up the sky as a plane ignites into flames and falls to the ground.
The clip then cuts to fighters standing around what appears to be the wreckage of the jet. Still, should there be any customers eager to acquire a ready-made, but currently non-functional air force, then the Inter Avia Group is also offering for sale three former Nigerian Air Force C-130H Hercules transport aircraft, with the proviso that these
"have been stored for many years and have many parts removed." All three of the airlifters are for sale at $2.5 million, but their transfer would require approval under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the U.S.
guidelines controlling the manufacture, sale, and distribution of defense equipment and services. Twenty Soviet-made MiG-21 Fishbed jet fighters are being advertised for sale online. The jets, which apparently comprise the Nigerian Air Force's entire remaining Fishbed fleet, are described as being in a "used" condition and are offered together with 15 "new" engines, as well as spares.
A spokesperson told CNN Thursday the fighter jet had been deployed near Borno State in northeastern Nigeria to provide air support to ground troops, who were under fire from Boko Haram fighters before radar contact was lost.
"The aircraft disappeared from radar at about 5:08 p.m. on Wednesday - in an area that's barely 80km out of Borno State. It was on a mission to give fire cover to our troops who were coming under intense fire from Boko Haram insurgents,” Gabkwet added.
Nigeria ordered its Fishbeds from the then-Soviet Union back in the mid-1970s, to replace its aging MiG-17 Fresco fighter jets. The Soviets delivered 24 MiG-21MFs and six MiG-21UMs in 1975. However, peacetime attrition was apparently heavy, leaving only 12 MiG-21MFs and five MiG-21UMs operational by October 1984, according to figures published in African MiGs — MiGs and Sukhois
in Service in Sub-Saharan Africa. At that time, Nigeria ordered another 13 of the more advanced MiG-21bis, plus two more MiG-21UM jets to make up for these losses. Military analysts said Boko Haram is not known to possess the kind of weapons that could shoot down a fast-flying jet at altitude, such as ground-to-air missiles.
Video of the wreckage also indicates that much of it was found in a confined area, which would be inconsistent with a mid-air explosion.
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