Fighter jet Mig-21, the old warhorse of the Indian Air Force (IAF), will retire after more than 60 years of service and will be accorded ceremonial send off in September, it was learnt. The iconic fighter jet played a key role in major conflicts, including the 1965 and 1971 wars.
The last jet will be given a ceremonial send-off on September 19 at the Chandigarh airbase by the 23 Squadron (Panthers). Indigenously designed and manufactured Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA)will replace the MIG-21s.
Inducted into the Air Force in 1963, the MiG-21 is celebrated for its vital role in the India-Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971, the 1999 Kargil war, the 2019 Balakot strikes and Operation Sindoor.
The IAF currently operates two squadrons of MiG-21 Bison, comprising 36 aircrafts. The last squadrons of the MiG-21s are currently stationed at the Nal air base in Rajasthan
At one point of time, the IAF had nearly 900 Mig-21s including around 660 built in India. The fighter jet first entered service in 1963 on a trial basis. The Russian-made jet went on to form the backbone of the Air Force till the mid-2000s when the Sukhoi Su-30MKIs were brought in.
The final variant to serve India — the ones which will now be phased out — was the Bison, which featured upgraded electronics and better navigation and communications systems.
In October 2023, MiG-21 fighter aircraft from the No 4 squadron flew for one last time over the town of Barmer in Rajasthan, a ‘farewell and thank you for the memories’ moment it shared with the planes taking up its role in the state that borders Pakistan, the also Russian-made Sukhoi.
In July 2022 the Air Force had confirmed a three-year timeline to phase out the four remaining MiG-21 squadrons still in service. The plan also involves phasing out the MiG-29s by 2027.
The phasing out of the MiG-21 fleet comes after numerous crashes involving the aging plane, including an incident in Rajasthan in May 2023 in which the three villagers were killed.
Among the earlier squadrons to have been phased out was the Srinagar-based No 51, which took part in Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil war. It also repulsed Pakistan’s retaliatory action in February 2019, a day after airstrikes in Balakot targeted terrorist camps in Pak.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, now a Group Captain, who shot down a Pakistani jet in aerial combat before he was forced down too and was captured, was from that squadron.
Meanwhile, India is also developing a fifth-generation stealth fighter that will vault the country into an elite club - one of only three other countries with such advanced fighter aircraft.
The multirole Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft will be a single-seat, twin-engine jet with advanced stealth coatings and internal weapons bays, and the plane - most of which will made in-house, at Bengaluru’s Aeronautical Development Agency - will cost over Rs 15,000 crore.
