TNI Digital: The retirement of the MiG-21 is more than just the end of an aircraft’s service — it is the closing of a defining chapter in India’s military aviation history. For six decades, this supersonic marvel gave the Indian Air Force both teeth and confidence, from the wars of 1965 and 1971 to the daring Balakot airstrikes.
Yet, its legacy is bittersweet: celebrated as a “beautiful warhorse” while also criticized as a “flying coffin.” Its departure is both overdue and emotional, a reminder that nostalgia cannot outweigh safety.
As India modernises with Rafales and Tejas, the MiG-21 leaves behind not wreckage, but reverence.