BOXART STORY

#8232

Virtue out of necessity

In the spring of 1998, a significant event

occurred in the Finnish Air Force. The

MiG-21BIS was retired from its arsenal and

the replacement, the F/A-18C/D Hornet,

marked a significant shift for Ilmavoimat.

However, the road to this turning point was

rather thorny.

Finland was in a difficult situation after the

Second World War. Fighting with the Red

Army during the Winter War and then the

Continuation War had significantly drained

its resources and thrown the country into an

alliance with Nazi Germany in its fighting for

survival. Finland then fought against Germany

in the Lapland War after the armistice with

the USSR in 1944. The Paris Peace Talks in

1947 limited the post-war development of the

Finnish air force which was still using old

Bf 109Gs in the early 1950s. The country did

not have the funds for modern aircraft, among

other things because of the reparations paid

to the USSR. However, in 1952 the purchase

of six Vampire Mk.52s was agreed by

government and Ilmavoimat entered the

jet era. But Vampires were obsolete, and

the USSR was concerned about the lack

of protection of its neighbour’s airspace in

a deteriorating international situation.

Soviets feared that it could become

a “gateway” for a possible strike from the

West. Finland was thus threatened that the

USSR would use a provision in the 1948 Peace

Treaty (YYA) to take over the protection of

Finnish airspace, which would have

negatively affected Finland’s international

March 2023

position. The result was the purchase of

12 Folland Gnats in 1958.

In the early 1960s, the Soviet Union attempted

to persuade Finns to buy the aging MiG-19Ss,

but Finnish pilots were already familiar with

the Western machinery, including the J 35D

Draken or Mirage IIIC thanks to test flights,

and so the offer was declined. However, the

financial capabilities of Finland did not allow

the purchase of these types. On the contrary,

the acquisition of Soviet equipment would

have been advantageous due to the possibility

of repaying it with supplies of goods.

In October 1961, the USSR sent another note

to Finland demanding increased protection

of Finnish airspace, again with a threat of use

of the provisions of the YYA. After this crisis

was settled, the USSR offered Finland the

MiG-21F-13 and on February 1, 1962, a contract

was signed for the delivery of twenty aircraft,

the first of which were delivered on April 24,

1963.

Just a decade later it was obvious that

Ilmavoimat would need another upgrade.

The Saab J 35 Draken was selected as

a replacement for the Gnats and in the spirit

of the ongoing policy of diversification, it

was decided that the replacement for the

MiG-21F-13 would be procured from the

USSR. The Finns requested a presentation

of the available types and were offered MiG23MS and MiG-21bis. The MiG-23 was more

expensive and its maintenance requirements

were higher, while the MiG-21 was cheaper

and already established in Finland. And

Text: Richard Plos

Illustration: Petr Štěpánek

that made the decision. In the autumn of

1976, Captains Paavo Janhunen and Taisto

Myöhänen were enabled to test-fly the type

at the Krasnodar base and a year later

a contract for 20 aircraft was signed.

The first two MiG-21BISs landed at Risala

on September 21, 1978. One of them, coded

MB-114, was flown to the test center in

Halli, the other, MB-111, was used for pilot

conversion training at HävLLv 31 (31st Fighter

Squadron). Subsequently, the fuselage

designation of the MiG-21BIS was changed

from MB to MG, and the remaining 18 aircraft

were delivered in three batches during 1980.

The MG-129, which is pictured on the boxart

by Petr Štěpánek during a landing at Kuopio

Air Base was part of the second delivery on

July 17, as was its wingman on the painting,

coded MG-124. In 1984, it was decided to

purchase six more aircraft, so in total the

Ilmavoimat operated 26 MiG-21BISs.

All the delivered aircraft underwent avionics

and instrumentation modifications by Valmet.

The stenciling was translated to Finnish,

the aircraft received VHF/COM radios and

altimeters of Western origin, as well as

VOR/ILS/DME systems and transponders.

In January 1986, the MiG-21F-13s that had

served with the Reconnaissance Squadron

(TiedLLv) were retired and replaced by

MiG-21BISs modified to carry reconnaissance

and electronic warfare containers. The

reconnaissance squadron was disbanded

in 1996, and two years later all Finnish

MiG-21BISs were gone…

INFO Eduard

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