The Indian Air force is still flying 44-year-old MiG-21 fighter jets when no one even drives cars that old, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said today. Questions have been raised about the four-decade-old fighter planes that remain the core of India's defence fleet since a recent dogfight at the Line of Control, in which Pakistan used superior F-16 jets.

Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa took the oldest variant of the Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter jet for a spin in the skies above Sulur near Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore. Flying solo in three of the five sorties, the Air Force chief took the MiG-21 through some spectacular aerial moves on clear summer skies over the last three days. The MiG-21 Type 96 entered service in 1973-74.

Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said Air Force was not in a position to say how many casualties were caused by India's counter-terrorism-operation against Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan. That, he said, was government's job, adding that Air Force did not count human casualties, but targets hit and missed. Responding to accounts refuting India's version of airstrikes, BS Dhanoa said Indian jets had hit their targets.