Legendary Mig-21 Retires: Indian Air Force To Hold Decommissioning Flypast In Chandigarh On September 26

(MENAFN- Live Mint) After six decades of service as the Indian Air Force's legendary workhorse, the Russian-origin MiG-21 fighter jet is set to be officially retired. A decommissioning ceremony will be held on Friday in Chandigarh, the very city where the iconic aircraft was first inducted into the IAF's combat fleet in the 1960s.

Dilbagh Singh, who became the IAF chief in 1981, had led the first MiG-21 Squadron in Chandigarh in 1963.

The culmination of MiG-21 operations is set for September 26 with a ceremonial flypast and decommissioning event, marking the closure of a historic chapter in India's air power.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh will fly the last sortie of the MiG-21 Bison aircraft on Friday.

The last of the MiG-21 jets, belonging to the 23rd Squadron, nicknamed "Panthers," will be given a farewell at the decommissioning ceremony at the Chandigarh Air Force station, where Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest.

Upon landing, the six MiG-21 jets, belonging to number 23 Squadron, taking part in the flypast ceremony on Friday, will be given a water cannon salute and among the pilots will be Squadron Leader Priya Sharma, who also flew in the full dress rehearsal on Wednesday, and will leave her name in the annals of aviation history as the last woman fighter pilot to have flown the aircraft one final time.

In a recent post on X about the retiring MiG-21s, the IAF said: "Six decades of service, countless tales of courage, a warhorse that carried pride of a nation into the skies."

For a long period of time, the MiG-21 fighter jets served as the mainstay of the IAF. Following their initial induction, the IAF procured over 870 aircraft to significantly bolster its overall combat prowess. The supersonic jets were the dominant platforms during the 1965 and 1971 conflicts with Pakistan, and also played a pivotal role in the 1999 Kargil conflict and the 2019 Balakot airstrikes. However, over the past six decades, the IAF's workhorse has been involved in multiple crashes, which have frequently brought the safety record of the ageing, Soviet-origin fleet under scrutiny.

Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, Army Chief, Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, and Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi will be among those present on Friday in Chandigarh.

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