(Image source from: MiG-21 consigned to history})

India's first supersonic fighter, MiG-21 flew into the pages of history on Wednesday. The MiG-21 FL fighter jet aircraft flew its last sortie at the Kalaikunda air base after serving the IAF for a glorious 50 years.

MiG-21 FL aircraft had heralded the "supersonic era" in IAF. It was mainly responsible for India's victory over Pakistan in 1971 due to its accuracy in hitting targets. Till date IAF pilots have been trained on MiG-21 FL. Wing Commander Manav Kumaria referred to the MiG-21 FL as a pilot's aircraft due to the ease with which it could be handled compared to multi-role fighters like F-18s, MiG-35s, Rafales, Gripens and Eurofighter Typhoons.

Desicion to phase-out the aircraft comes following multiple crashesh of the MiG-21 FL and the death of scores of pilots that earned it the dubious name of flying coffins. Currently there are around 242 MiG-21s still in service, whick will be phased out gradually to induct new fighter aircrafts like the Su-30s and Rafale. Uptil now 375 pilots have been trained by the OCU in the Mig-21 Type 77 aircraft.

(Picture Source: janes.com)

(AW: Pratima Tigga)