By Somya Panwar
On September 26, 2025, the Indian Air Force (IAF) bid farewell to its legendary fighter aircraft MiG-21 in a ceremony, celebrating its service of more than six decades of the aircraft commonly referred to as “workhorse” of Indian skies.
On the Chandigarh base of the IAF, the air trembled with a ceremonial flypast, as senior defence commanders and veteran pilots, who had even flown the aircraft themselves, gathered to commemorate a fighter that has been an unerasable chapter in Indian air defence history.
MiG-21 was India’s first supersonic fighter, commissioned in 1963. Its first squadron, the 28 Squadron, came to be known as First Supersonics, marking India’s entry into modern aerial warfare. Throughout all these years, India had more than 700 MiG-21s of various types in service, the majority of which were locally produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and thus made the aircraft not just a frontline warrior but also a constructor of India’s aerospace power.
Besides battlefield triumphs, MiG-21 also spurred India’s aerospace industry, pushing indigenous production and technology breakthroughs to new levels.
In August this year, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh honored the aircraft with solo sorties from the Nal airbase in Bikaner in Rajasthan.
IAF, in an X post, referred to the MiG-21 as a “warhorse that took a nation’s pride to the skies,” releasing a tribute video highlighting its history.
While the MiG-21 squadrons are being gradually withdrawn, the IAF’s combat capacity will fall to 29 squadrons. Yet, top officers have indicated that the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Mk 1A will fill in for the old fighter in the coming years.