According to India Asia International News Agency (ANI), India New Delhi TV (NDTV) and other media reports, the Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter aircraft will hold a farewell ceremony on September 26 at Chandigar Air Force Base, after which it will officially end its more than sixty-year service.

According to ANI, the Indian Air Force posted on social platform X on September 20 that the MiG-21 is ¡°a war horse that brings the pride of the country to the blue sky¡± and through a video of more than a minute introduced the history of the MiG-21 service in the Indian army.

According to Indian media, 36 MiG-21s from the last two squadrons are currently deployed at the air base in Bikaner, Rajasthan, western India, belonging to the 3rd "Cobra" Squadron and the 23rd "Panther" Squadron respectively. The Indian army has purchased a total of 900 MiG-21 fighter jets, of which 660 are manufactured locally by Hindustan Aeronautics Co., Ltd., and only 36 are left to be retired.

According to the Indian Ministry of Defense, more than 400 crashes have occurred, with more than 200 pilots killed, including seven since 2021.

According to India¡¯s ¡°Bhaskar English¡± website, India is the world¡¯s third largest user of the MiG-21 fighter aircraft after Russia and China, and has continued to use the upgraded model since its introduction in 1963, while Russia has stopped production of the aircraft as early as 1985.

ANI said that the phased out MiG-21 will be replaced by the "Tejas" LCA Mark 1A fighter. Up to now, more than 11,000 MiG-21 series fighters are still used in more than 60 countries around the world.