Marking the end of an era, MiG-21 Bison fighter jets of the No. 4 squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on October 31 flew for the last time in Indian skies. The IAF is phasing out MiG-21 aircraft from its fleet, and will replace them with indigenous aircraft including LCA Mark 1A and LCA Mark 2 along with advanced medium combat aircraft. The Defence Ministry says the No. 4 squadron, known as ‘Oorials’, has been operating MiG-21s since 1966. Now this squadron is being equipped with Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft. According to the Defence Ministry, this change reflects the IAF’s unwavering commitment to modernise its fleet and protect the country’s skies.
The MiG-21 has a notorious history of accidents. It has long earned the dubious sobriquet of “the flying coffin”. According to reports, the lives of more than 200 pilots and 50 civilians have been lost in these incidents till date since 1971. The frequent crashes of MiG-21s have turned the spotlight on India’s longest-serving fighter plane, its safety record, and the plans to replace the ageing jets. After its induction in the early 1960s, the IAF procured more than 870 MiG-21 fighters to boost its overall combat prowess. However, the aircraft has a very poor safety record. No doubt, the MiG-21, once the backbone of the IAF, has outlived its utility. For the IAF, it is necessary to redefine its fighter aircraft fleet requirement according to the benchmarks of modern air combat.
The Indian Air Force is set to replace the ageing MIG series fighters with around 100 additional Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark-1A fighter jets. This is in addition to the Rs 48,000-crore deal signed with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in 2021 to procure 83 such jets. The decision to decommission the MiG-21s in a phased manner was initiated in the early 1980s and a new project, Tejas was to be launched in place of the MiGs but thanks to the red tape system of India, the decision making took such a long time and the plan of inducting and developing new fighter planes was delayed.
The recent induction of Rafales and Tejas – LCA is the silver lining in the cloud but we need to increase the numbers of the fighter planes rapidly with invested innovations, and this needs to be done urgently if we don’t want to lose our brave warriors and leave everything at the sake of a court of enquiry. The target date is estimated to be around 2030 for the supply of 73 Mk-1A fighter Jets and 10 LCA Mk-1 trainer aircraft. 40 LCAs are undergoing initial operational clearance (IOC) and final operational clearance (FOC) configurations and will be the most advanced variant of Tejas. But we need to increase the speed of these modernisations so that the IAF is able to maintain adequate strength to guard India’s skies.
