MiGhty fighter, 62, flies into history today

When the MiG-21 touches down on the tarmac at Chandigarh for the last time on September 26, having emblazoned the skies over the Indian subcontinent for 62 long years, it leaves in its wake some defining moments in India’s military history.

The ceremony being organised to mark the culmination of flying operations by the MiG-21 — at the same place from where its chequered journey had begun in 1963 — promises to be a dazzling affair, with a flypast by a never-seen-before multi-aircraft formation, simulated dogfights and sky diving.

A commemorative formation of three MiG-21 Bisons flanked by the indigenous Tejas fighter on either side and followed by nine Hawks from the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) in an arrowhead formation trailing tri-colour smoke has been specially formed for the event.

The SKAT will also put up a display of its signature aerial manoeuvres. A simulated dogfight between Jaguars and MiG-21s, freefall by the Akash Ganga skydiving team and a flypast by two formations of three MiG-21s each, with Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh expected to be in the cockpit of one of the aircraft, are the other highlights of the ceremony. Among the crew participating in the final flypast is a woman pilot, Sqn Ldr Priya Sharma.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Naval Staff Dinesh Tripathi and six former Air Chiefs along with senior service officers and civilian dignitaries will attend the event.

Six MiG-21s from the IAF’s No. 23 Squadron, the Panthers, which is the last unit to be operating this aircraft, are in Chandigarh from their present base at Nal near Bikaner in Rajasthan. About two years ago, the IAF had moved the last two remaining MiG-21 squadrons, the other being the No. 3 Squadron, the Cobras, to Nal.

In 1961, the IAF opted to procure the Soviet-origin MiG-21, a third-generation jet fighter aircraft, over several other western competitors such as the British English Electric Lightning and the US F-104 Starfighter due to a combination of strategic, economic, political and operational factors. Over the next four decades, it formed the backbone of the IAF’s fighter fleet.

After cutting its teeth in the 1965 India-Pakistan War, where it performed the air defence role, the MiG-21 played a crucial role in the Liberation of Bangladesh Campaign, not only in achieving air superiority but also undertaking ground attack roles. A key operation was attacking the Governor House in Dacca (now Dhaka), considered by military historians as the final nail in the coffin that led to the collapse of the Pakistan army in the east.

The MiG-21s also rendered the Tezgaon airfield at Dacca out of action by carrying out never-attempted-before steep glide bombing missions to crater the airstrip. This resulted in the IAF gaining air superiority over East Pakistan, paving the way for unrestricted ground, air and naval operations.

In 1985, as Operation Meghdoot, India’s campaign in the Siachen Glacier, was underway, a MiG-21 executed a daring, but little known photo-recce mission over Skardu in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Equipped with an underbelly camera pod and flying just a couple of hundred feet above the ground, it photographed the new runway and adjacent areas to collect intelligence on Pakistani aircraft, airfield status and logistics. Skardu is a strategic Pakistani forward airbase and monitoring its activities was critical due to its role in supporting Pakistan military operations in the Siachen Glacier region.

MiG-21s were among the first fighters to go into combat on May 26, 1999, when the IAF formally entered the Kargil conflict along the Line of Control, launching the opening attacks at 6.30 am, targeting enemy camps, logistic routes and supply dumps overlooking key areas in Dras, Kargil and Batalik sectors.

On August 10, 1999, a few weeks after the Kargil conflict, a MiG-21 intercepted and shot down a Pakistani Navy Breguet 1150 Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft over the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat after it intruded into Indian airspace and ignored warnings.

Two MiG-21s from the No. 45 Squadron were scrambled. Sqn Ldr RK Bundela, flying the lead MiG-21 and later awarded the Vir Chakra, fired an R-60 missile from a 3-km range, hitting the Atlantic’s port engine. The plane caught fire, descended, and crashed near the border village of Talhar. All 16 Pakistani crew members, including five officers and 11 trainees, were killed.

Sqn Ldr Bundela and the ground-based fighter controller, Wg Cdr VS Sharma, were decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal.

The last known time the MiG-21 was deployed in a war-like situation was in 2019 after the IAF strike on terrorist camps at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan in the aftermath of a terrorist strike at Pulwana in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The MiG-21, the oldest fighter in the IAF’s inventory, was pitted against the F-16, the most advanced aircraft that the Pakistan Air Force flaunts, with the IAF claim that an F-16 was shot down in an aerial duel close to the Line of Control in Rajouri sector.

One of the MiG-21 pilots, Wg Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman, fired an R-73 missile at an F-16, resulting in a radar blip, being tracked as an F-16, vanishing from the screen, according to a top IAF officer.

Varthaman’s own MiG-21 was also hit after he reportedly transgressed across the LoC in the heat of the moment and he landed inside the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after ejecting. He was captured but later repatriated to India and was decorated with the Vir Chakra.