As we speak the IAF phased out the MiG-21 Bison after a 62-year-long profession, spanning two thirds of the air power’s whole lifespan.
The MiG-21 is usually regarded as synonymous with the Indian Air Power, being the biggest consumer of the plane outdoors of the Soviet Union itself, with Hindustan Aeronautics Restricted (HAL) domestically producing round 600 fighters of the 872 plane that have been inducted into the IAF between 1966 and 1980. It was the IAF’s first supersonic jet fighter and by far the longest serving within the service, being the spine of the fleet from its induction in 1963 till its retirement this 12 months.
This present day had been delayed a number of occasions with the MiG-21 initially purported to retire within the Nineties, however it was stored on the IAF’s books as a way to preserve their squadron numbers at a suitable stage, while delays with its substitute have been sorted. Finally India produced its first home supersonic fighter, the HAL Tejas mild fighter, with its prototype flying in 2003. Extra delays with full-rate manufacturing meant that the Tejas didn’t formally enter service till 2015, with it not prepared to switch the MiG-21 till the 2020s.
The delayed HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Restricted) LCA Tejas Mk-1A additionally discovered a contemporary order on Sep. 25 for 97 jets in Rs. 60,000 crore ($6.7 billion) deal, on prime of the 83 that the IAF had already ordered in February 2021. This could ease the strain on the IAF – keen to satisfy its fight air patrol and level protection wants. Common Electrical additionally resumed the provision of the GE F404-IN20 engines, the delay of which HAL mentioned held again Tejas Mk-1A deliveries.
Nonetheless, these bumps within the highway for the brand new fighter appears to have been pushed via because the Indian authorities has simply signed the contract for an extra order of 97 Tejas MK 1A totaling $7 billion USD. Which means that while the lack of the 2 MiG-21 squadrons will see the whole fighter squadron numbers dip to 29 as a substitute of the formally mandated 42, the order of additional Tejas brings hope that this dip is not going to be for a protracted time period.
The Indian authorities and the IAF view that 42 fighter squadrons are mandatory for combating each the Pakistani Air Power and the Individuals’s Liberation Military Air Power, on the similar time. Certainly, the numerous bulk of the IAF is strategically positioned towards these two powers, with this forming the central focus of Indian protection planning. Every squadron is supposed to function 18 plane.
Given the age of the kind and extra particularly the age of its airframes, the retirement of the MiG-21 at this juncture is more likely to convey extra good than hurt to the general construction of the IAF. Solely two squadrons of MiG-21 are left in service, cut up between No. 23 Squadron IAF ‘the Panthers’ and No. 3 Squadron ‘the Cobras’, each of which is able to convert onto the Tejas Mk 1A as extra are launched into IAF service.
pic.twitter.com/eUbGEVkHGM
— Ministry of Defence, Authorities of India (@SpokespersonMoD) September 26, 2025
The decommissioning ceremony befell at present, Sept. 26, 2025, at Chandigarh AFS (Air Power Station), the identical airbase the place the primary six MiG-21 plane have been delivered to the IAF. These unique plane joined No. 28 Squadron, which grew to become often called ‘The First Supersonics’ because of their acceptance of the plane. The squadron at the moment operates the MiG-29, themselves having flown this plane for nearly forty years.
The ceremony noticed a particular flypast commemorating the MiG-21 and its lengthy historical past with the present Chief of the Air Employees, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Signal. He led a formation of six plane, together with one flown by Squadron Chief Priya Sharma, the seventh lady to fly within the IAF and now the final lady to fly the MiG-21. After touchdown, the formation was met with a water cannon salute, signaling the tip of the period that was the IAF’s first and longest-lived supersonic jet fighter. This formation was adopted by the IAF’s Surya Kiran show staff flying the BAE Programs Hawk MK 132 jet coach.
Controversial Flight Security
The MiG-21’s retirement follows the plane having fallen into disrepute because of the plane’s excessive crash fee in IAF service. This has drawn the ire of many in the direction of the IAF for not retiring the MiG-21 sooner and changing it with a safer plane. Of the 872 airframes that have been inducted since 1963, round 400 have been misplaced to accidents starting from 1971-72, killing over 200 pilots and 50 civilians.
#MiG21 end result ceremony26 Sep 2025#MiG21#indianairforce@DefenceMinIndia@SpokespersonMoD@HQ_IDS_India@adgpi@indiannavy@IndiannavyMedia@CareerinIAF pic.twitter.com/CL0lKVjDKI
— Indian Air Power (@IAF_MCC) September 25, 2025
In consequence, it earned the sobriquets of “Flying Coffin” and the “Widow maker,” producing a picture of an IAF that was apathetic to plane security, and the lives of its pilots. The primary cause is extra to do with India’s famously sluggish protection procurement course of, being unusually weak to bureaucratic and political exigencies than probably every other nation.
The final MiG-21 crash befell on Could 8, 2023, when a MiG-21 Bison (MiG-21bis) from the identical No. 23 Squadron crashed within the Western Indian state of Rajasthan, killing three civilians. Previous to that, on Jul. 28, 2022, a MiG-21 UM from the No. 4 Sqn crash killed Wing Commander M. Rana (38) and Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal (26).
IAF officers in the meantime counter constant criticisms of the service not phasing out the outdated jet, since new acquisitions such because the aforementioned Tejas MK 1A stay caught. The IAF’s acquisition of the French Rafale additionally stays sluggish, because of the sluggish fee of manufacturing of the Dassault plane in France.
Goodbye, you magnificence.
(Picture by my good friend @TheFlyingJunkie) pic.twitter.com/QXIM1mkx4M
— Angad Singh (@zone5aviation) September 26, 2025
The IAF distinguishes between ‘obsolescence’ and the ‘flyability’ of an plane the place solely plane deemed to be unflyable are divested instantly. The serviceable ones are these assessed to have elements that may be nonetheless repaired or changed. Even the serviceable plane are retired for different miscellaneous causes.
Two different causes are unpredictable materials failures, and the uncommon pilot or upkeep error, none of that are recognized underneath the IAF’s Boards of Inquiry, virtually all the time outdoors public scrutiny. Those least avoidable are tools snags, that may occur regardless of elements present process hundreds of hours of ‘non-destructive testing’ by the developer, on this case the Mikoyan Design Bureau.
IAF pilots blame the excessive crash fee of the MiG-21 on the lengthy service lifetime of the platform, being the longest serving and largest fleet of jets within the IAF. Pilots however love the jet and swear by its reliability as a fighter-interceptor and floor assault jet, which requires “unforgiving respect and impeccable ability,” in response to an unnamed retired Air Vice Marshal rank officer.
#MiG21 Day by day Pic: D minus 4
Nightfall at Bikaner (Nal). A Kind-96 from 108 Sqn knifes off the runway, afterburner portray the desert gold—whereas a 14 Sqn Jaguar flight watches, somewhat awestruck.
📷 Sanjay Simha
#MiG21India #IAFHistory pic.twitter.com/vSbFCoTbyx
— Anchit Gupta (@AnchitGupta9) September 22, 2025
He additionally claims, albeit rigorously, that “in sure ideally suited” tactical, teaming and terrain conditions, and if dealt with by a seasoned pilot, the MiG-21bis may even greatest a Gen. 4 and Gen. 4.5 fighter, exploiting its low RCS (Radar Cross Part), pace and BVR (Past Visible Vary) missile functionality.
Uncommon Flight Traits
The MiG-21 has unfamiliar flight traits to most of the different plane sorts flown by IAF pilots. That is very true for pilots from the Nineteen Seventies who transitioned from subsonic plane such because the Dassault Mystere and the Hawker Hunter. These flight traits are brought on by the nostril consumption, delta-wing and the whopping touchdown pace of 360 km/hour.
The preliminary batch of pilots have been unaccustomed to induced drag at decrease pace and the sluggish engine response that resulted from it. Overseas Object Injury (FOD) and chicken strikes as a result of speedy urbanization round air bases have been different reported causes for the excessive crash fee early on through the plane’s lifespan.
Moreover, the skinny delta-wing may end in a ‘super-stall’ the place the plane sinks at a speedy fee of 100-150 meters per second, shedding about 20-30,000 ft inside a minute. Sadly, this was typically deadly and led to such a excessive variety of losses.
This wing additionally allowed the MiG-21 to glide for a good distance with the engine out, typically contributing to engine failures going unnoticed. Again then the IAF additionally lacked an Superior Jet Coach (AJT) for his or her Stage-III flight coaching, after having flown the HJT Kiran and the PZL TS-11 Iskra in Stage II.
Because the MiG Operational Flying Coaching (MOFT) was immediately being performed on the MiG-21, a trainee went from an plane with a pace of 240 kms an hour, to 1 with a touchdown pace of 366 km. It was solely in Nov. 2007 that the British BAE Hawk meant for the Stage-III Superior Jet Coaching started arriving in India.
Relevance and Future
This however doesn’t diminish the MiG-21’s contribution to the IAF’s historical past. The MiG-21 has seen motion through the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation Conflict, the 1999 Kargil Battle and the Feb. 27, 2019, air conflict over Kashmir between the Indian and Pakistani air forces. Whereas the IAF did lose a MiG-21bis within the skirmish to a U.S.-made AIM-120 AMRAAM, the pilot Wg. Cdr. Abhinandan Varthaman ejected and landed in Pakistani fingers, earlier than being handed again.
#MiG21 Day by day Pic: D minus 1
Knife-bright towards a continent of white. She threads the cornice, her engine track swallowed by snow. One final daybreak earlier than the mountain sentry fingers in her keys.
📷 Gp Capt Puneet Narain
#MiG21India #IAFHistory pic.twitter.com/TEPmnbmuQ6
— Anchit Gupta (@AnchitGupta9) September 25, 2025
This final incident, extremely publicized in India, noticed claims that mentioned the MiG-21bis shot down a Pakistani F-16 Preventing Falcon. Nonetheless, this has been extensively disputed by each the Pakistani and American governments. The IAF on its half had proven the disappearance of a blip from a display screen of a tactical management heart, explaining the vanishing of the blip of the radar image meant the PAF F-16 was misplaced.
In Kargil MiG-21s have been used within the floor assault position, strafing Pakistani floor positions with unguided rockets on the Himalayan ranges. This gave the MiG-21 an iconic look, flying with two underwing two B8M1 rocket pods containing 20 S-8 rockets every.
The IAF recorded its final confirmed kill on Aug. 10, 1999, when a MiG-21 shot down a Pakistan Navy Breguet Atlantique which had reportedly violated Indian airspace within the Rann of Kutch in western India’s Gujarat. The MiG-21bis was essentially the most superior kind within the IAF stock, delivered between 2000 and 2005. Upgraded with Israeli assist, the jet had a brand new highly effective Russian Kopyo radar for BVR missiles, an Israeli Elbit EL/L8222 jamming pod and a brand new Inertial Navigation System (INS), making it a reasonably superior Gen. 3 jet.
IAF Mig-21 in air fight has shot down:
1 F-862 F-64 F-1041 C-1301 Atlantique and1 F-16
📷: @VelocityTTL pic.twitter.com/8hM2NQaS0N
— Sankalan Chattopadhyay (@VinodDX9) September 25, 2025
With the retirement of the MiG-21 the IAF seems to the long run, dominated by 4.5 and fifth Era fighters. There may be fixed hypothesis over Indian procurement of each the Russian Su-57 and the American F-35, though to this point a signed order of both is way from sure. As each Pakistan and China quickly modernize their air forces, the strain on the IAF is about to extend within the close to future.
