Overview

• The decommissioning featured a mixed flypast of MiG-21s, Jaguars and the Surya Kiran aerobatic team, a water-cannon salute, and the symbolic handover of the aircraft’s Form 700 logbook to the defence minister.
• Air Chief Marshal A P Singh flew the final sortie as No. 23 Squadron ‘Panthers’ bowed out, with Squadron Leader Priya Sharma becoming the last woman pilot to fly the type.
• Senior military leaders and veterans attended the event at Chandigarh Air Force Station, where a commemorative postal cover was released and skydivers from the Akash Ganga team performed.
• Inducted in 1963 as India’s first supersonic fighter, the MiG-21 served across the 1965 and 1971 wars, the 1999 Kargil conflict, and a 2019 engagement that included the downing of a Pakistani F-16.
• The jet leaves a mixed safety legacy after numerous crashes over decades, even as the IAF moves to rebuild capacity with Tejas Mk1/Mk2 and more Rafales over the coming years.