SOURCE: AFI
Group Captain MJA Vinod (retired Indian Air Force) recounted his experience evaluating the Eurofighter Typhoon in X Post (Formerly Twitter). This evaluation, conducted before the induction of the Rafale, involved both flying the Typhoon and engaging it in simulated combat.
While acknowledging the “neat” towed decoy system of the Typhoon, Group Captain Vinod reportedly expressed reservations about its overall performance.
This assessment aligns with comments from past interviews where he described “fighting a Typhoon” as a significant challenge during Exercise Indradhanush in October 2010, when Eurofighter Typhoons visited Kalaikunda Air Base.
However, Group Captain Vinod also highlighted the unique capabilities of the MiG-21 he flew. He emphasized the MiG-21’s ability to achieve very high angles of attack (“alpha”) exceeding those of modern fighters. Modern aircraft often have built-in protections that limit pilots from reaching such extreme maneuvers for safety reasons. Group Captain Vinod reportedly utilized this advantage to slow the MiG-21 significantly, allowing a Eurofighter Typhoon to overshoot him during a simulated engagement.