MiG-21s set for final flight in Sept after 62 years in service

NEW DELHI: The first truly supersonic fighters to be inducted by the Indian Air Force from Russia in 1963 but plagued by an alarmingly high crash rate in later years, the MiG-21s will fly for the last time in Indian skies this Sept.

The IAF is now left with only two MiG-21 'Bison' squadrons, totalling 36 fighters, at the Nal airbase in Rajasthan. The ceremonial farewell for the MiG-21s, after over six decades in service, which saw the old warhorses take part in all major conflicts, will take place at Chandigarh on Sept 19.

After the first lot of MiG-21s were inducted from Russia, the single-engine jets were produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in large numbers and also underwent upgrades later. The highly-unforgiving and ageing MiG-21s, however, continued to lack modern systems with built-in safety mechanisms.

Huge delays in the production of the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft, which were supposed to replace the virtually obsolete MiG-21s, means that the IAF will now be left with just 29 fighter squadrons. This when the IAF authorised 42.5 squadrons for the collusive challenge from China and Pakistan.

TOI had earlier reported the two remaining MiG-21 squadrons will be retired this year after the IAF repeatedly deferred the phasing out of the delta-wing jets due to the depletion in the number of its fighter squadrons. The MiG-21 jets and the Cheetah/Chetak helicopters, which number around 350 in the armed forces, in particular, should have been retired at least a couple of decades ago.

Of the 872 MiG-21s progressively inducted by IAF, over 400 were lost in accidents since 1971-72. Crashes of different MiG variants, the bulk of them being MiG-21s, have killed well over 200 pilots and 50 civilians on the ground over the decades. The MiG-21s, however, did play a stellar role especially during the 1965 and 1971 wars.