Final Sortie: MiG-21 Fighter Jets to Take Their Last Flight on September 26

The legendary Russian-origin MiG-21 fighter jets, which have been the backbone of the Indian Air Force (IAF) for over six decades, are set to retire on September 26 at a decommissioning ceremony in Chandigarh,

where the aircraft was first inducted in 1963. The farewell event will include a ceremonial flypast, water cannon salute, and participation from IAF pilots, including Squadron Leader Priya Sharma. Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, the IAF chief, will fly the last sortie of the number 23 Squadron, nicknamed "Panthers", with the call sign 'Badal 3'. The ceremony will be attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, and six former IAF chiefs: A Y Tipnis, S Krishnaswamy, S P Tyagi, P V Naik, B S Dhanoa, and R K S Bhadauria. Officials from the Defence Ministry, Defence Research and Development Organisation, and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will also be present.The program will feature a display by the IAF’s skydiving team "Akash Ganga", flying from 8,000 feet, followed by a MiG-21 flypast with precision drills and an aerial salute. The aircraft will fly in three-aircraft 'Badal' and four-aircraft 'Panther' formations. The Surya Kiran aerobatic team and modern fighters, including the Jaguar and the Tejas, will also participate. Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter designed for air defence, maritime reconnaissance, and strike missions.The MiG-21, first inducted in 1963, became the IAF’s workhorse, with more than 870 jets procured over the years. The supersonic aircraft played key roles in the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan, the 1999 Kargil conflict, and the 2019 Balakot airstrikes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VB6Mb0RmV4

The IAF, in a recent post, described the MiG-21 as a “warhorse that carried the pride of a nation into the skies” and hailed its "six decades of service" and countless stories of courage.While the MiG-21 strengthened India's air combat capability, its ageing fleet was involved in multiple crashes over the years, raising safety concerns.The formal retirement follows the aircraft’s last operational sorties at Nal Air Force Station in Bikaner, Rajasthan, in August. During these sorties, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh flew solo flights, marking an emotional farewell for pilots trained on the Russian-origin fighter.A commemorative postal stamp will also be released to mark the historic occasion. A full-dress rehearsal was held at the Chandigarh Air Force station on Wednesday ahead of Friday's ceremony.