One of the Indian Air Force's four squadrons of ageing MiG-21 fighter jets will be retired in September, while the other three will be phased out over the following three years. The air force's decision to phase out the squadrons is part of a previous plan to replace the MiG-21s with more modern fighter aircraft and is unrelated to the July 28 Barmer crash that claimed the lives of two fighter pilots.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the No. 51 Squadron, also known as "Sword Arms," which is headquartered in Srinagar, will be disbanded in two months. In the No. 51 squadron at the time, Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman received the Vir Chakra for downing a Pakistani F-16 during a duel over the Line of Control on February 27, 2019. A day after the IAF destroyed a terror site in Pakistan's Balakot, there was a dogfight.
MiG-21: History of crashes
A number of MiG-21 crashes in recent years have brought attention to India's longest-serving fighter plane, its safety record, and the IAF's intentions to replace the outdated aircraft with newer ones in the years to come. After receiving its first single-engine MiG-21 in 1963, the air force went on to acquire 874 different models of the Soviet-made supersonic fighter to increase its combat capacity. Over the past six decades, more than 400 MiG-21s have been engaged in accidents that have killed about 200 pilots.
Since they made up the majority of the IAF's fighter inventory for a long period and the air force had to keep its MiG-21 fleet in service longer than it would have wanted due to delays in the introduction of new fighters, MiG-21s have crashed more frequently than any other fighter.
