New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to retire the remaining Mig-21 aircraft in its fleet in September. This will bring down the curtains on an era that began with the IAF being armed with its first supersonic fighter jet in 1963. At that time, the Mig-21 was considered one of the best aircraft of its class in the world. It was an enigma, even for the US that had nothing to match its capabilities as an interceptor.
These aircraft were extensively flown by the IAF and saw action in the 1971 Indo-Pak War and the 1999 Kargil War. In a more recent incident, Squadron Leader Abhinandan Varthaman chased a Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter jet across the border on February 27, 2019 in his Mig-21 and shot it down, before being shot down himself. Squadron Leader Varthaman ejected safely and was captured by the Pakistanis. He was released on March 1, 2019.
Over the last 62 years, the IAF has lost nearly 400 Mig-21s in crashes. These accidents resulted in the deaths of at least 200 pilots and 60 people on the ground. Due to the large number of crashes and the deaths of young pilots, the aircraft started being called the ‘flying coffin’.
There was a reason for this though. Before the IAF got its Hawk advanced jet trainers, the Mig-21s were used as conversion aircraft for young pilots to move directly to flying jets after training in piston-engine trainers. Most accidents occurred as the rookie pilots were unable to handle the extremely high take-off speeds of the Mig-21s and the deft handling the aircraft required.
The IAF has announced that the remaining 31 Mig-21s will be given a ceremonial send-off at the Chandigarh air base by 23 Squadron (Panthers) on September 19. The Mig-21s will be replaced by Tejas Mk1A aircraft, deliveries of which are expected to start soon.
While over 60 countries have flown Mig-21s, very few of them do so now. India is currently the largest operator of MiG-21s. While there are concerns that the retirement of the Mig-21s will further bring down the number of IAF squadrons to 29, officials say that enough Tejas Mk1As will be available in about a year’s time to fill up the gap.
