Indian Air Force Retires the legendary MiG-21 Fleet

Key Event

• Indian Air Force (IAF) officially disbanded its two final MiG-21 squadrons, No. 3 Cobras and No. 23 Panthers on September 26, 2025, in Chandigarh.
• It is a culmination to a 62 years history of service, and a chapter of the Soviet era legacy in the IAF.

Historical Significance

• MiG-21s started to be inducted in the IAF in 1963.
• Their numbers were the stalemate of the IAF fighter force throughout decades, and they participated in major wars such as the 1965 war, the 1971 war, and the 1999 Kargil war.
• MiG-21 Bison in particular was also the first fighter jet aircraft, which was piloted by women in the IAF.

Influence on IAF Strength and Modernization.

• This retirement has made the IAF squadron strength to decline to 29 fighter squadrons.
• This is way short of the authorized strength of 42 squadrons, a mark that the IAF has never achieved, which points to a serious problem as far as air power is concerned.

Futurist Roadmap: The Indigenous Push.

• In order to fill the gap and to modernize, IAF is spending heavily on the indigenous aircraft:
  • It already possesses two groups of Tejas Mk1.
  • It will introduce 180 modernised Tejas Mk1A aircraft of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
  • Proposals are underway to have the more advanced Tejas Mk2 and the fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) which are likely to be available next decade.

Final Tribute

• Squadron Leader Priya Sharma led the last flypast of Chandinarh which marked one of the links between the glorious past of the IAF and its future.