IAF chief flies MiG-21 amid final farewell: Legacy of 6 decades ends on Sept 26

With a month to go before the formal retirement of the last few MiG-21 fighter jets, Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Marshal AP Singh flew a sortie in the jet from the air base at Nal, Bikaner, Rajasthan today. Accompanying him was Squadron Leader Priya Sharma, IAF said.

The last two squadrons of the MiG-21 are set to retire on September 26, ending a six-decade legacy. The final ceremony will be conducted at the Chandigarh air base, where the MiG-21s arrived in April 1963 and became part of IAF Squadron named ‘The First Supersonics’. The planes had been received at Mumbai in a disassembled condition and were assembled by a team of Soviet engineers and test-flown by their pilots. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) licence-produced 657 of these jets. Over the years, avionics, missiles, and radars were upgraded with newer versions.

Over the past 62 years, the aircraft, including all variants flown by IAF, have been part of various operations, including the 1971 Bangladesh war, 1999 Kargil conflict, and the most recent air duel after the Balakote airstrike. Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman was flying a MiG-21. In all, nearly 490 MiG-21s were involved in accidents or crashes, killing over 170 pilots. IAF had planned to have a replacement for the MiG-21 ready by 1994. The last variant of the MiG-21 Bis was produced in 1985.

The original MiG-21 was a point defence fighter, and until the MiG-21 Bis variant was inducted into IAF, the jet was designed for air-to-air combat and that too within the visual range of the pilot using short-range air-to-air missiles. MiG-21 was developed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the former Soviet Union and took its maiden flight in 1955.

Also, with the last two MiG-21 squadrons and the phase-out of these two, the number of fighter jet squadrons will plunge to 29, the lowest in six decades. As per a decision of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), IAF needs 42 squadrons of jets for a two-front collusive war with Pakistan. Each squadron has 16 to 18 jets.

The induction of the Tejas Mark-1A fighter jet, aimed at bolstering the numbers, has been delayed. Deliveries of the jet were to start in March 2024 with at least 16 planes to be delivered to IAF every year. So far, not a single Tejas Mark-1A has been delivered by the manufacturer, HAL.