Strana 50
MiG-21bis, 204 vb, 101.lae, Serbian Air Force, Batajnica Air Base, Serbia, 2015
MiG-21BIS, c/n 75084608, HävLLv 31, Kuopio airbase, Finland, 1998
MiG-21bisD, 21 ELZ, HRZ, Zagreb-Pleso, Croatia, December 2016
Following the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s,
the Federation of Serbia and Montenegro was
formed in February 2003 from the remnants
of the Republic of Yugoslavia. Based on
a referendum held on May 21, 2006, Montenegro
declared its independence on June 3 of the same
year. The armed forces agreed to split their
assets according to territorial claims. The air
force units in Serbia became part of the Serbian
army and had 82 aircraft and 89 helicopters at
their disposal. Meanwhile, in Montenegro, the 172
Air Base at Golubovci Air Base near Podgorica,
with a mixed fleet of 41 aircraft and helicopters,
became part of the Montenegrin Army. The air
force and air defense were reorganized and
retrained according to NATO standards by 2010.
In March 2005, the first NATO-style wing was
formed in Podgorica, Montenegro, as the 172
abr. On November 15, 2006, 204 av was officially
created in Batajnica, replacing the 204 lap.
It currently has three squadrons: 101 lae,
138 lae, and 252 lae (101 lae adopted the
insignia of 127 lae). 101 lae operates MiG-29,
MiG-21bis, and a pair of MiG-21UM training
aircraft. The MiG-21bis with fuselage number
17409 was one of the last MiG-21s to fly with the
Serbian Air Force. Its two-tone gray camouflage
is the result of repairs and fading of the original
all-gray paint.
The Finnish Air Force acquired a total of 26
MiG-21bis aircraft between 1978 and 1986. These
aircraft served in fighter and reconnaissance
role between 1978 and 1998. The last flight of
a MiG-21 in the service of the Finnish Air Force
was made by Yrjö “Ylli” Rantamäki on March 7,
1998. He flew aircraft coded MG-138. Just for this
flight the word YLLI was created from orange
reflective tape below the canopy. The aircraft is
now part of the exhibition at the Finnish Aviation
Museum in Tikkakoski.
The supersonic MiG-21bis fighter jet, number
17235/235, was manufactured in the early 1980s
and became part of the Yugoslav Air Force.
During the Croatian War of Independence, on
May 15, 1992, Captain Ivan Selak of the 124
Fighter Air Regiment of the Yugoslav Air Force
flew this aircraft into an area controlled by
Croatian separatists. The aircraft numbered 102
was incorporated into the Croatian Air Force
with an improvised designation. In January 1993,
it was named Osvetnik Dubrovnika in memory
of the Croatian city that was heavily damaged
by the fighting. After Operation Flash and before
the military-police operation Storm, the aircraft
was given a camouflage paint job and received
the standard designation of the Croatian Air
Force
KITS 10/2025
INFO Eduard50
October 2025