Superannuation: The IAF to retire all MiG-21 squadrons by 2025
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Finally, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided to retire all squadrons of the MiG-21 aircraft, which secured the country’s skies for decades, by 2025.
The media reported on Friday that the decision comes amid recent crashes involving the vintage Russian combat aircraft fleet and calls for the decommissioning of MiG-21 fleets.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich-21 (MiG-21) is a supersonic fighter and interceptor aircraft designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in 1959. Over 50 countries have since used this aircraft to secure their skies. India has been among the largest MiG-21 users.
By September 30, the IAF would retire one more squadron of the MiG-21 Bison aircraft, the reports said, adding one squadron each of these aircraft would be number-plated every year.
On Thursday evening, a MiG-21 Type 69 Trainer aircraft crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan killing both the pilots.
“The 51 Squadron, based out of Srinagar air base, is being number-plated on September 30. After this, they would leave only three squadrons of the planes in service, which will be phased out by the year 2025,” the media reports, quoting IAF sources, said.
The 51 squadrons earned a name for thwarting Pakistan’s aerial attack on India on February 27, 2019, and taking out an F-16 in an aircraft flown by Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman.
The sources said this was the only instance when a MiG-21 aircraft brought down an F-16 in air-to-air combat.
The IAF has been replacing the MiG-21 fighter jets with more capable aircraft like the Su-30 and Tejas, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
In the last 20 months alone, six MiG-21s were lost in crashes, claiming the lives of five pilots.
The MiG-21s were supposed to retire long ago, but delays in induction of the LCA Tejas aircraft forced the IAF to continue flying these planes. The officials said that the IAF conducts extensive checks on these planes before flying, and all safety aspects are taken care of before the pilot takes off.
The officials said the number-plated squadron would soon be reactivated with a more capable aircraft.
India has been the largest operator of MiG-21s, which the IAF started buying in 1961. As part of the deal, the then Soviet Union had offered India full transfer of technology and rights for local assembly. The IAF gained valuable experience using MiG-21 for defensive sorties during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war.
Since 1963, India inducted over 1,200 MiG fighters into the IAF. As of 2019, 113 MiG-21s were said to be still in operation, despite safety issues that led to crashes and claimed lives of pilots and civilians. Over half of the 840 aircraft built between 1966 and 1984 were lost to crashes.
