The MiG-21 is set to retire. It is about time

Indian Express

23-07-2025

Written by Kuldip Singh
On July 22, the Ministry of Defence announced that the last two squadrons of the iconic MiG-21 fighter-interceptor aircraft in the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be retired by September this year, and gradually replaced by the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Mark-1A (LCA Mark-1A). Although these MiG squadrons are presently based at Nal air base (Rajasthan), the ceremonial decommissioning will be held at Chandigarh air base on September 19.
This will mark the end of over 60 years of legendary service. The phasing-out, originally scheduled for 2022 but delayed on account of non-availability of the replacement LCA, will drop the IAF's active squadron strength from 31 (against a sanctioned fighter squadron strength of 42) to 29 – till the first set of LCAs start to arrive by March 2026.
Traditionally, the West has followed a revolutionary/generational-jump design policy for its new military platforms. In contrast, the erstwhile USSR/present-day Russia has espoused the evolutionary design model, in which most of its new military products consist of incremental and evolutionary upgrades.
The single-engine-single-seater MiG-21 was thus an evolutionary upgrade of the Soviet jet fighter series starting with the subsonic MiG-15 and MiG-17, and the supersonic MiG-19. With a maximum speed of 2230 km/hr, and armed with a 23 mm twin-barrel cannon and four air-to-air missiles, the MiG-21, then comparable to the US's F-104 Starfighter or French Mirage-III, saw several variants, retrofits and improvements, and was thus able to combine ground-attack and fighter-interceptor characteristics in a single aircraft.
Designed by Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) of the erstwhile USSR and introduced into service in 1959, nearly 11,680 of this aircraft were eventually produced (approximately 10,650 in the USSR, 195 in former Czechoslovakia, and 840 in India), thereby becoming the most-produced combat aircraft since the Korean War. Named 'Fishbed' by NATO, the MiG-21 has served in the air forces of over 60 countries, with some (including India) still flying it.
India opted for a strategic partnership with the USSR in 1955, and the IAF opted to purchase the MiG-21 in 1961 over several other Western competitors as the USSR had offered a full transfer of technology as well as the rights for indigenous assembly in India – and in 1963, the IAF inducted the MiG-21 as its first supersonic fighter. Reportedly, since then, 1,100 to 1,200 MiG-21s (including the original MiG-21, MiG-21PF/Type-77, Type-96, BIS and Bisons versions) have passed through the IAF's inventory, with the IAF operating around 400 MiG-21s in 19 squadrons at one time.
It has been unfairly labelled as the 'Flying Coffin' in recent times on account of numerous crashes. The labelling is unfair on three main counts. Firstly, fighter jets are incredibly complex machines with all their parts packed in a compact airframe – combine fuel, hydraulic fluids, electric circuitry, and explosives. Now, add a stressed environment to that mix, and one minor issue can send a flying machine into a catastrophic descent. Even the US Air Force's latest, most sophisticated jet, the F-35, has witnessed 31 crashes since 2006.
Secondly, no country in the world, including the US, has the wherewithal to simplistically replace its fighter aircraft inventory every two or three decades. Such numbers also cannot be manufactured in short time-frames. Incidentally, the US Air Force still flies the F-16 (first inducted in the 1970s; periodically upgraded).
Thirdly, no professional air force – and the IAF is among the best in the world – wants to undermine its operational capability through loss of aircraft. An objective assessment will reveal that the IAF has done an incredible, cost-effective job of nurturing, tending and utilising the MiG-21 for India's defence.
The 'aircraft accident rate' is calculated as the number of accidents resulting in loss of an aircraft per 100,000 hours of flying. The infamous F-86 Sabre of US-origin (which Indian pilots downed in the 1965 Indo-Pak War), had an average mishap rate of 4.4 crashes per 10,000 flight hours. The USAF's mishap rate (of all combat aircraft) was 1.3 in 2018, down from 5.2 in 1960. In contrast, the IAF recorded the lowest-ever accident rate of 0.20-0.27 in the 2020-2024 period, which speaks volumes of the professional focus and exceptional management of a dated inventory by the IAF.
That said, technology is progressing at an exponential rate. With technology being a principal force multiplier, present and future wars cannot be fought with weapons of yore – and there are limits to retrofitting and upgrading aircraft built to technological standards of over half-a-century ago. Additionally, by improving accuracy, technology allows higher levels of lethality to be wielded by smaller numbers, and thereby, facilitates downsizing of forces. A couple of 'stealthy' aircraft, using advanced avionics and intelligent weapons, can precisely destroy a large target which otherwise may have required a squadron of legacy aircraft.
As India looks beyond its borders and shores, and as the IAF expands its strategic ambit, it needs combat aircraft with technologies compatible with its operational mandate and wars of the future. To paraphrase Tennyson: The old order of the Mig-21s now must yield place to the new.
The writer is a retired Brigadier from the Indian Army. He also served as Principal Director in India's National Security Council Secretariat