MiG-21F-13 - Egypt - 1973
Black Ravens, No. 26th Squadron

Although suffering considerable losses in 1967 during the Six Day War (mostly on ground), the MiG-21F-13 in UARAF/EAF service had proven its qualities during the War of Attrition with its powerful 30mm cannon and outstanding maneuverability. The type was particularly popular among the pilots of the No. 25 and No. 26 Squadrons.

The No.26 Squadron was the only UARAF MiG-21 unit active in combat on the 6th of June 1967 in the openning phases of the Six Day War. Until the end of the war, the unit claimed several air victories against the IDF aircraft. None of the Egyptian MiG-21s, regardless of version, had ANY camouflage painting at all before or during the Six Day War, all of them being left in their natural metal finish as delivered from the USSR. Nevertheless, this changed immediately after the war due to the lessons learned. Among other camouflage schemes, several MiG-21F-13s received also the sand and dark green-olive camouflage pattern immediately after the Six Day War in July 1967, almost identical in pattern to my current subject. The aircraft of the No. 26 Squadron are known to have carried mostly this camouflage pattern, although there were also a couple of exceptions. Until the October War of 1973, the Egyptian MiG-21F-13s were repainted several times, therefore showing some variations when compared to the camouflage paint received in July 1967.

The No. 26 Squadron was highly succesful during the War of Attrition having earned its reputation of being the elite interceptor unit of the EAF. Although the EAF was already equipping newer and presumably better versions of the MiG-21, the No. 26 was still equipping the older MiG-21F-13 as late as the Ramadan War of 1973 and beyond. The younger and less experienced pilots of the newly delivered MiG-21MF (as of 1972 in other units) had dual air and ground attack roles and relied during air combat too much on the aiming system of the close to useless R-3S missiles. On the other hand, the pilots of the No. 26 squadrons were highly experienced pilots and trained exclusively on air combat mastering the cannon fire and preferring overall the lighter and more manouvrable MiG-21F-13. As a reminder, all MiG-21 versions developed after the F-13 until the MF had no incorporated cannon any more (similar to some early F-4 Phantom versions), which was proven to be a fatal design mistake.

During the Ramadan War of 1973, the elite No. 26 Squadron was not called in action until the very late phases of the war. This caused frustration and complains among the pilots, especially while hearing the reports and radio communications regarding signifficant EAF losses.

The symbol of the No.26 Squadron was a black raven with the number "26" painted on the nose on both sides. Although not all aircraft of the 26th Squadron have had the black raven on the nose, there are photographs of at least two different machines which had it.

My subject, the number 5843, is somewhat the "flagship" of the No 26 Squadron and was piloted by Reda el-Iraki. The number 5843 had presumably three small blue stars under the right side of the cockpit (as stated by El-Iraki himself), denoting three claimed victories from during the War of Attrition. Both the No. 25 and the No. 26 Squadrons claimed further air victories in the chaotic last days of Ramadan War. The number 5843 subsequently survived the Ramadan War and is known to have taken part in further future military exercises.

The MiG-21F-13 of the No. 26 Squadron continued flying in the same camouflage scheme and unit markins until their withdrawal from service in the mid 1980s therefore showing conseriderable fatigue and patina in the last years of service.

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