New Delhi: The much delayed inevitable finally happened. After 62 years of service, India’s first supersonic jet—the MiG-21—finally bid adieu Friday, leaving the Indian Air Force’s fighter jet squadron strength to a mere 29 for all practical purposes, the lowest since the 1960s.

Once the workhorse of the IAF, the MiG-21 was the mainstay of the force, with the Air Force inducting a total of 870 of them in multiple variants.

It was in 1983 that India decided to build a new light combat aircraft to replace the MiG-21s, 870 of which were built by India. Show Full Article

The MiG-21s continued to fly, being stretched beyond they should ideally have been, ending up with the moniker—the flying coffin—a disservice to the fighter that saw action in all conflicts fought by India, including th

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