Just to look at the MiG-21 today you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a museum piece.

Yet, it is only on Friday, 26 September, that this make will be officially retired from the Indian Air Force after decades of service.

There is a fair amount of nostalgia, especially from retired and senior IAF personnel, regarding the MiG-21, but, on the flip side, the aircraft has become infamous in India for the large number of crashes – many fatal – involving this type over the years.

The MiG-21 has been in the IAF for more than 60 years, an astonishing length of time. And while India is finally saying goodbye to them, they continue to serve the air forces of countries in Asia, Africa as well as Cuba.

More than 870 MiG-21s have served at one point or another in the IAF and the jet fighte

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