Overview

• The September 26 ceremony in Chandigarh marked the fighter’s final operational sortie, with flypasts led by Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, a MiG-21–Tejas formation, and a ceremonial switch-off of six jets.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lauded the aircraft’s service across major operations including the 1971 war, the Kargil conflict, the Balakot airstrike and Operation Sindoor.
• Leaders emphasized that the jets in service had been modernized by HAL with new radars, avionics and weapons and were at most about 40 years old, addressing concerns about age.
• India flew roughly 850 of the more than 11,500 MiG-21s built worldwide, using the type as a versatile interceptor, ground-attack platform, frontline air defender and trainer for generations of pilots.
• The government linked the retirement to the transition toward HAL’s Tejas and the forthcoming AMCA, presenting it as continuity from license production and upgrades to homegrown capability.