India Retires MiG-21 After 60 Years Of Operation

India has retired its last Mikoyan MiG-21s after more than 60 years of operation.

Some 850 examples of MiG-21s in various marques served with the Indian Air Force. Of those, around 600 were manufactured in-country by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The final version in service was the the MiG-21bis, also known as the Bison.

The last six in operation took part in a farewell ceremony at Chandigarh on Sept. 26 that included fly-pasts and displays of MiG-21s as well as the aircraft slated to formally replace it, the indigenously developed HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.

Speaking at the retirement ceremony, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said the aircraft was “deeply embedded in the memories and emotions of our country,” noting that the Russian aircraft has contributed to India's security for many years.

“In every historic mission, the MiG-21 carried the [Indian] Tricolor with honor…its contribution has never been limited to a single event or battle, it has been a pillar of India's air power for decades,” Singh added.

Others will have mixed emotions as the platform is withdrawn. Of those 850 aircraft produced, some 480 were lost to accidents between 1971 and 2012. 

Official figures show more than 170 pilots were killed as well as 39 civilians. These numbers also include losses of the MiG-27, but that type was operated in small numbers. At least 20 Indian MiG-21s have crashed since 2010.

India had been one of the last bastions of the MiG-21. The type has now been withdrawn from every air force in Europe. Some MiG-21s remain operational in African air forces as well as with the air arms of Cuba and North Korea.

Chinese-made MiG-21s—known as F-7s or J-7s—continue to operate in large numbers, however, including in the air forces of India's neighbors Bangladesh and Pakistan, where the F-7PG is used as a point defense interceptor. 

HAL is now producing the Mk. 1A variant of the Tejas. It has to deliver 180 aircraft to the Indian Air Force, including 97 that were formally ordered on Sept. 25.