Overview

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the decommissioning at Chandigarh as Air Chief Marshal A P Singh flew the final MiG-21 Bison sortie with call sign Badal 3.
• The send-off featured a ceremonial flypast, water-cannon salute and displays by Surya Kiran and Akash Ganga, with the last aircraft drawn from No. 23 Squadron Panthers.
• Inducted in 1963 as India’s first supersonic fighter, the MiG-21 served in the 1965 and 1971 wars, the 1999 Kargil conflict and the 2019 Balakot operation, with more than 850–870 aircraft inducted over decades.
• Parliament data records over 400 crashes and more than 170 pilot deaths through April 2012, underscoring the type’s long-debated safety record even as it trained generations of pilots.
• The IAF’s strength drops to 29 fighter squadrons against a sanctioned 42, with Tejas jets already in service and Mk1A deliveries expected to start in October to help close the gap.