#BangladeshLiberationWar: OTD in 1971, for the first time ever, a US-built F-104 Starfighter was engaged in air combat by a Soviet-designed MiG-21 – and shot down. This was a hugely significant breakthrough, in the world-wide narrative of air combat ... /2 
2: Around 2 pm two PAF F-104s led by the respected Wg Cdr Mervyn Middlecoat SJ (pic 1) attacked AF Stn Jamnagar. Tho' low-flying, they were spotted by Stn Cdr Gp Capt Pete Wilson VrC (pic 2)'s OPs, "just far enough for a MiG-21 pilot to get from charpoy to fighting speed" ... /3
3: Two MiG-21s of 47 Sqn IAF scrambled, flown by Flt Lts MM Sehgal (L) & BB Soni (R). Following a short tail-chase, Flt Lt Soni shot down the lead F-104 over the Gulf of Kutch. He reported a parachute, but Wg Cdr Middlecoat was never found ... /4
4: This was a historically important rebuttal to the Western narrative, based on myths about Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East, that Soviet fighter designs were always inferior to American, and unsuited to the fast-moving scenarios of jet-era air combat ... /5
5: More tomorrow, and much more in my (hopefully) forthcoming book.
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