India to retire ‘flying coffin’ MiG-21 after six decades

After serving for over six decades, India has decided to retire its remaining MiG-21 fighter jets in September.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the last two MiG-21 Bison squadrons are scheduled to be decommissioned at a ceremonial event on September 19 at the IAF airbase in Chandigarh.

The move comes after nearly six decades of service, during which the Soviet-origin jets formed the backbone of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

First inducted in 1963, India acquired over 700 MiG-21s of various models, including the Type-77, Type-96, BIS and the upgraded Bison version.

The MiG-21 earned the nickname "flying coffin" after a series of crashes, with estimates suggesting over 400 jets have been lost, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 pilots and civilians.

Notably, in May 2023, a MiG-21 crashed near Rajasthan’s Suratgarh during a training sortie, killing three civilians. A year earlier, a crash claimed the lives of two senior IAF officers.

The fleet's vulnerability was exposed during a Pakistan-India standoff in February 2019, when a MiG-21 flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

The phasing out of the MiG-21 was originally planned to conclude by 2022 but faced delays due to the slow induction of replacement jets. 

The indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is now expected to fill the gap left by the retirement.