Steel, Speed and Soul: MiG-21’s Sunset Salute Over India’s Skies

Chandigarh:

In a landmark moment for Indian military aviation, the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday will give a ceremonial farewell to its iconic MiG-21 fighter aircraft, drawing the curtain on six decades of service. For generations of pilots, engineers and families, the “Fishbed” was never just a warplane — it was a teacher, a comrade and a test of mettle.

Voices from the Cockpit

Veteran Wing Commander Avinash Chikte (Retd), who flew the MiG-21 for two decades, calls it “a majestic beauty and a lifelong teacher.” Recounting close shaves — engines shutting down over the sea, hair-raising night sorties and the MiG’s razor-thin margins — he says, “She thrilled me, taunted me, tested me, taught me and transformed me. You had to know her, understand her, trust her, treat her with love and only then did she respond with grace.”Chikte even had a ritual of kissing the MiG’s nose cone after landing from perilous missions, a gesture understood by generations of IAF personnel.Air Marshal Prithvi Singh Brar remembers how, during the 1971 war, his MiG-21 helped him outrun four enemy fighters. “I thought I was seconds away from death,” he recalls, “yet the MiG-21 pushed harder, bringing me home.” Dismissing the “flying coffin” tag, Brar adds: “For the knowledgeable, she will be a chapter in aviation history. For the pilots who flew her, she will always be friend and teacher.”

Brotherhood Forged in Steel

Among the last to pilot the MiG-21 is Squadron Leader Priya Sharma, representing a new generation shaped by the same steel and spirit. For every pilot, strapping in for a sortie was more than a job — it was a promise to family and nation, balancing exhilaration and peril on the razor’s edge.Veteran Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis echoes the sentiment: “The MiG-21 taught us innovation, resilience and the art of producing results,” crediting the jet’s demanding quirks with forging legendary aviators.

A Farewell Without Regret

As the MiG-21 rolled past its final water-cannon salute, the IAF did not merely bid adieu to an old machine — it celebrated a friend, mentor and guardian. The grief of pilots’ families, who braved the uncertainties of each take-off and landing, stands immortal in every farewell salute.Every sortie flown, every challenge faced and every victory won is now etched as a tribute not just to an aircraft but to the indomitable human spirit it inspired.To the MiG-21: your wings may rest, but your spirit will forever soar in India’s skies. Dasvidaniya.