NEW DELHI: The famed football commentator Peter Drury once described Lionel Messi as “beautiful” and a “point of difference.” As it flew into the sunset on Friday, the same can also be said about Indian Air Force‘s MiG-21, which served the force for 62 years. For more than six decades, from the 1965 and 1971 wars, to the 1999 Kargil war and the 2019 Balakot strikes, the Soviet-origin supersonic jet gave India a decisive edge in the skies. Its speed and agility were unmatched, even as a patchy safety record earned it the nickname “flying coffin.”The legendary Russian-origin MiG-21, the country’s first supersonic fighter and interceptor aircraft, made its final appearance in the skies on Friday, bringing an end to more than six decades of service.The decommissioning ceremony was held at the Chandigarh Air Force Station, where the aircraft was first inducted in 1963. Defence minister Rajnath Singh was the chief guest at the event, which marked the formal retirement of the MiG-21 fleet.

In a post on X ahead of the ceremony, the IAF said, “Six decades of service, countless tales of courage, a warhorse that carried pride of a nation into the skies.”The MiG-21 was inducted into the IAF in the early 1960s, with Dilbagh Singh, who later became the IAF chief in 1981, leading the first squadron in Chandigarh in 1963. Over the years, the IAF procured more than 870 MiG-21s.The decommissioning ceremony marked the official end of MiG-21 operations in the IAF, closing a significant chapter in India’s air power.Defence minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, and Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi attended the event.

Played key role from the 1965 war to Balakot airstrikes

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the erstwhile Soviet Union.The famed fighter jet was first inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1963. Over the years, the IAF procured over 870 MiG-21s to boost its combat prowess.The workhorse in the air has also been in the news for its patchy safety record with some even labelling it a “flying coffin”.The fighter jets were the dominant platforms during 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan. It also played a key role in the 1999 Kargil conflict as well as 2019 Balakot airstrikes.

‘Dasvidaniya’

Wing Commander Avinash Chikte (Retd), who logged 2,255 flying hours on the MiG-21, described the aircraft as a “majestic, dazzling beauty” and a “magnificent flying machine.”“I first met my MiG-21 in 1982, gleaming in the sun. Her features were so symmetrical, so conical and so beautiful, that it was love at first sight,” Chikte told news agency PTI in an interview.Chikte referred to the aircraft as ‘she.’ He explained, “Traditionally, for both sailors and pilots, the ship or the aircraft is feminine.” Adding a poetic note, he said, “She is like a mother, a friend, a guide, the only one who is truly with you through storms and dangers, and the one who brings you home safe.”“She was elegant, energetic and enigmatic. You had to know her, understand her, trust her, treat her with love and only then did she respond with grace,” Chikte said.He noted that at low speeds, the MiG-21’s razor-thin wings required precision. “But once you were fast, she transformed. Agile, eager, alive,” he said.An alumnus of Sainik School Satara and the National Defence Academy, Chikte last flew the MiG-21 in 2003.“My MiG and I, Together we shall fly, even after the final goodbye. Dasvidaniya (Russian for ‘until we meet again’),” he said, as quoted by news agency PTI.The legend will live on.