ISLAMABAD – Following the skirmishes on 27thFebruary 2019, IAF and Indianmedia claimed that wing commander Abhinandhan shot down a PAF F-16.Pakistani Authorities denied all such claims and said they didn’t lose anyjets.
Picture of the downed IAF Mig21 Bison’s wreckage has sparked a new debateamong the internet community asking questions on whether Wing CommanderAbhinandan even got the chance to fire a missile before he was shot down.
Mig 21 Bison typically has 5 hard points. Hard points are also known as aweapon station or places on an airframe that can carry external loads,which in case of fighter aircraft can be missiles, bombs, special pods orExternal fuel tank (EFT).
Usually, the hard point on the belly of the aircraft carries the EFT andthe wings carry missiles.
R-73 in front of an R-77 missile
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IAFs Mig 21 uses Russian Made R73 and R77 air to air missiles for short andlong range respectively. The picture shows the reassembled and rearrangespieces of missiles on board the Mig21 Bison that remained unfired.
The EFT on one of the hard points was also identified clearly in thepictures of the crash site. This has now further weakened the Indian claimsthat Wing Commander Abhi shot down an F-16 jet before going down in combat.
