Indian Navy Mig-29K ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Indian Navy) Source- Russia & India Report Author- Rakesh Krishna Simha Former Air Marshal Sumit Mukerji holds a rare distinction. The Indian Air Force officer, who was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command, is the only air force pilot to have commanded MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-27 and MiG-29 units. "The only pilot," he says. "There’s no one even in Russia.” Mukerji’s achievement was possible because of the dominance of MiG aircraft in the IAF fleet. Currently the IAF has 245 units of the MiG-21 interceptor and 120 units of the MiG-27 ground attack jet. The MiG-23 fighter-bomber and the MiG-25, of which the IAF had eight units of the reconnaissance version, are long retired. Although MiG-21s are still in use in as many as 19 air forces worldwide, the frequent crashes of these older IAF MiGs led to a trial by media and furore in parliament, after which the IAF announced