• A MiG-21 fighter jet of IAF crashed near Rajasthan’s Suratgarh.

About MiG 21

• The MiG-21s are among the six fighter jets presently flown by
• The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s are single engine, single-seater multi-role fighter/ground attack aircraft designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union/Russia.
• First inducted by India in 1963.
• Over the period, India has procured over 700 MiG-21 aircraft of different variants– Type-77, Type-96 and BIS.
  • The latest of them are the MiG-21 Bison.
• The aircraft in the past had proved their mettle in wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999 Kargil conflict.
• Accidents- As per available government data, close to 500 MiG-21s have crashed in the last 60 years, killing over 170 pilots with varying causes.
• Phasing out of MiGs
  • In September 2022, the No. 51 squadron based in Srinagar was number plated (meaning retired from service).
  • The three MiG-21 Bison squadrons are planned to be phased out by December 2025 and will be replaced by the indigenous LCA Tejas