IAF to retire one MiG-21 squadron in two months; entire fleet by 2025

New Delhi, July 29: The Indian Air Force is set to retire one more squadron of MiG-21 Bison aircraft by the end of September this year. The remaining three planes in service would be phased out by 2025.

"The 51 Squadron based out of Srinagar air base is being number plated on September 30. After this, only three squadrons of the planes would be left in service and would be phased out by the year 2025," news agency ANI quoted its sources in the IAF as saying.

The IAF has been replacing the MiG-21 fighter jets with more capable aircraft like the Su-30 and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). In the past 20 months, 6 MiG-21s have been lost in crashes in which five pilots have lost their lives, according to ANI.

A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer district on Thursday night, leading to the death of both the pilots. Barmer District Collector Lok Bandu told PTI that the IAF plane crashed near Bhimda village in Baytoo.

The IAF, in a tweet, said the twin-seater MiG-21 trainer aircraft was airborne for a training sortie from Utarlai air base in Rajasthan this evening. At around 9:10 pm, the aircraft met with an accident near Barmer. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries.

The IAF said it deeply regretted the loss of lives and stood firmly with the bereaved families. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.

The crash has once again turned the spotlight on India's longest-serving fighter plane, its safety record and the IAF's plans to replace the ageing jets with newer ones in the coming years.

The air force got its first single-engine MiG-21 in 1963, and it progressively inducted 874 variants of the Soviet-origin supersonic fighters to bolster its combat potential. Of the 874 MiG-21 variants inducted by the IAF, over 60% were licence-produced in India.