The South Asian nation first rolled out the MiG-21 in 1963 in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, where a mega farewell ceremony was held at the Air Force Station for all the remaining 36 MiG-21 fighter jets.
“Today as we bid farewell to the MiG-21 from its operational journey, I believe that we are saying goodbye to a chapter which will be written in golden letters not only in the history of the Indian Air Force but also our whole military aviation journey,” Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at the ceremony.
“MiG-21 is not just an aircraft or machine, but also proof of a deep relationship between India and Russia.”
The ceremony marked the end of an era for the jet, one that was both successful and also marred by controversy over its alarming safety record in recent decades.
One of the MiG-21 fighter jets that took part in the final sortie during the ceremony in Chandigarh, India, on Sept. 26. (Photo by Kiran Sharma)
In terms of its success, the MiG-21 was the first supersonic fighter in service of the IAF — capable of flying faster than the speed of sound — and had participated in all major conflicts since its installation, including the 1965 and 1971 wars and the 1999 Kargil conflict, all with Pakistan. It served as the backbone of the Indian air defense and was often the first choice of IAF commanders due to its high agility, fast acceleration and quick turnaround. “It [was] the best aircraft to learn operational flying from,” said retired Air Marshal V.K. Verma, who attended the Friday ceremony.
The few countries that reportedly still use the fighter include Syria and North Korea.
Nevertheless, a series of MiG-21 crashes in recent decades led the press to refer the fighter with grim nicknames like “Flying Coffin” and “Widowmaker.” In 2012, the then-Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony informed parliament that India purchased a total of 872 MiG aircraft of various types from 1960s to 1980 — including those built by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) under a production license — and 482 of these jets were involved in accidents from the early 1970s until April 19, 2012, due to both human error and technical defects.
An Indian army soldier stands in front of the wreckage of an MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force after it crashed in Soibugh in the India-administered region of Kashmir in 2015. © Reuters
“A total of 171 pilots, 39 civilians, 8 service personnel and 1 aircrew lost their lives in these accidents,” Antony said at the time — data which has not been officially updated since then in a comprehensive manner.
However, former Air Vice Marshal Rajiva Ranjan told Nikkei Asia that the MiG-21, when it entered service, was “arguably the best-designed airframe in its class,” and “repeated taunts such as ‘Flying Coffin’ and ‘Widowmaker’ were first popularized in Western media to describe the F-104 Starfighter (or the American ‘Century Series’ combat jets), not the MiG-21.”
Besides, Ranjan said, the Indian MiG-21’s record must be seen in context with “uniquely challenging” flight conditions, including poor visibility and bird hazards; lack of potent simulators; and delays in acquiring suitable advanced jet trainers as well as in procurement of indigenously developed replacement fighter aircraft.
He also added that the MiG-21 is the most-produced supersonic fighter in history, with over 11,500 built and which was once operated in about 60 countries. “It was this aircraft that gave India one of its most glorious modern victories — the liberation of Bangladesh [from Pakistan in 1971].”
With the MiG-21 flying into history, all eyes are now fixed on the Tejas Mk-1A, a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft and an upgraded version of the Tejas Mk-1 inducted into the IAF in 2016. On Thursday, India’s Ministry of Defence signed a contract with HAL for the procurement of 97 more Tejas Mk-1A fighters at a cost of 623.7 billion rupees ($7 billion), in addition to 83 aircraft worth 480 billion rupees ordered in 2021. The first deliveries of Tejas Mk-1A powered by U.S.-based GE Aerospace’s GE F404 engine — though delayed from the originally scheduled February 2024 — are expected soon.
“Hopefully, the first two of [the Mk-1As] will get delivered with weapons integration by the end of September,” Indian Defence Secretary R.K. Singh said at an event late last month. “Hopefully [HAL] will be able to perfect this platform, integrate the radar and the Indian weapons so that it becomes a workhorse for us along with the Sukhoi.” He said of the Tejas aircraft, “in a way it replaces the MiG-21.”
In May, Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh lamented the delay in deliveries of the defense project. “Timeline is a big issue. … Once a timeline is given, not a single project that I can think of has been completed on time,” he said at an industry event.
India is also working to roll out the Tejas Mk-II, a medium-weight fighter, which is expected to replace the other aging fleets of Mirage 2000s, MiG-29 and Jaguars, while in February it showcased for the first time a full-scale model of its first 5.5-generation stealth Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), reflecting enhanced indigenous defense capabilities and fostering a robust domestic aerospace industrial ecosystem.
The Indian Air Force’s LCA Tejas performs an aerobatic display during the Aero India 2023 air show at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, Feb. 13, 2023. © Reuters
“The replacement of MiG-21 [has been] over-delayed, which sort of reflects on our record of acquisitions as well,” Rahul Bhonsle, a retired brigadier and director of the New Delhi-based Security Risks Asia think tank, told Nikkei Asia, pointing out that the indigenization of combat fighter aircraft had faced a lot of challenges for about two decades, essentially because India did not have the requisite technology. He said the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Tejas program “has just taken off.”
“We did acquire Mirage, Jaguars, MiG-29, and the Sukhoi-30MKI, but these could not replace the role that the MiG-21 was playing. which was basically that of an air defense fighter. Now we are actually down to the ropes … [and the] safety record of MiG-21 over the last few years has been quite dismal.”
On whether India should have bought more aircraft from overseas to replace the MiG-21, Bhonsle said the program has to be planned at least 10 to 15 years in advance, as there is nothing available off the shelf for immediate procurement.
“Our Rafale program faced such a major setback,” he said referring to India’s original deal with France for procurement of 126 fighter aircraft. That process was started in 2007, but only 36 were later finalized in 2016 and the first five Rafale jets arrived in India in July 2020 — with the last one landing in December 2022 for the Indian Air Force.
“Now we are filling the [MiG-21] gap with a mix-and-match [approach] by making use of whatever we have, like Rafale multirole fighters and Tejas LCA,” Bhonsle told Nikkei. “Will this sort of give a push to procure [more] Rafales quickly?” he asked, while pointing out that these are not iPhones which you can produce suddenly in huge numbers and put on the market. “Even most countries, including the U.S. and France, have their manufacturing limitations.”
“What we should do now is review our acquisition process and make sure that [there are] time-bound acquisitions,” Bhonsle said. “We should not be unduly stuck on the 50% or 60% indigenization [of the aircraft as] today, we are not in a [position] where we can pick and choose.”
According to N.C. Bipindra, a security analyst and editor of the online defense news site Defence.Capital, the retirement of the MiG-21 will lead to a drop in IAF fleet strength “to a precarious level” of less than 30 squadrons against a sanctioned strength of over 40. A squadron is a military unit with a fixed number of aircraft, pilots, ground and technical staff. The IAF is officially authorized to have 42 squadrons, but it has far below that number.
However, he added, the MiG-21 retirement brings hope to the IAF that its urgent requirement to replenish its fleet with modern aircraft will find traction.
“Already, the IAF is looking to buy 114 more fighters, likely to be Rafales,” he said. “Second, it makes the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft commercially viable with more orders to replace the phased-out MiG-21s.”
French aerospace and defense major Dassault Aviation — which recently partnered with Tata Advanced Systems to manufacture Rafale fighter aircraft fuselage — and HAL “will benefit and so would IAF with new, modern jets,” Bipindra said. “Local industries in the supply chain also get a piece of the business cake.”
The article appeared in asia.nikkei
