Key Points and Summary – India’s retirement of its last MiG-21 “Fishbed” squadrons on Sept. 26 ends the iconic Cold War fighter’s front-line era with a major air power.
-First flown in 1955 and built to nearly 12,000 (plus ~2,400 Chinese J-7s), the MiG-21 served in over 50 air forces for six decades—cheap to buy, easy to maintain, Mach-2 capable, and adaptable from air defense to ground attack.
MiG-21 Fighter from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Russia, China, and Romania have already phased it out; only a handful of nations fly dwindling numbers with limited utility.
-As parts, training, and upgrades dry up, the Fishbed’s future shifts from flight lines to enthusiasts and museums.
Last Dance of the MiG-21 Fishbed Fighter?
On September 26, India will retire its last squadrons of MiG-21 fighter jets. Indian pilots have been flying the MiG-21 (NATO callsign: Fishbed) since 1963, and the airframe has served in every war waged by India since that date.
The retirement marks a significant milestone in the decline of the iconic Cold War fighter, as India was the last considerable aerospace power to operate substantial numbers of the aircraft.
History
The first MiG-21 prototype flew in 1955. Serial production began in 1959 and continued until 1986. In all, nearly 12,000 Fishbeds were built in the Soviet Union and under license in India and Czechoslovakia.
For its part, China contributed approximately 2,400 aircraft under licensed production as the J-7 variant. The first J-7 rolled off the production line in 1965, and the last one was produced in 2013.
Together, these made the Fishbed the world’s most prolific supersonic aircraft, well ahead of the MiG-23 “Flogger” and the F-4 Phantom II.
Over its lifespan, some fifty countries have flown the MiG-21. Some of these (particularly the United States and Israel) acquired the aircraft through capture or similarly nefarious means.
In other cases (the Soviet and Yugoslav successor states), Fishbeds were passed down as artifacts of imperial collapse. Several NATO countries operated legacy MiG-21s that they had initially owned as Warsaw Pact states.
What it Could Do
The Fishbed was a success for several reasons. It was cheap, relatively easy to fly, easy to maintain, and it offered a solution to many of the most basic problems faced by air forces operating on a shoestring.
In terms of performance, the MiG-21 was capable of holding its own with both contemporary and advanced fighters.
The Fishbed would eventually exceed Mach 2.0, with an internal cannon and the capacity to carry between two and six missiles.
Like most fighters, the MiG-21 can serve in a ground attack role, in which it carries a limited number of bombs and rockets.
The Fishbed underwent a bewildering series of evolutions over its long career, both in terms of the development of new models and in terms of modifications and upgrades.
The final Fishbeds flown by India and NATO countries bore little resemblance to the Soviet jets of the 1950s, except in physical appearance.
The combat record of the MiG-21 was mixed, with significant successes matched by long-term attrition against the best Western fighters.
Twilight of MiG-21
The end of production made a global drawdown of Fishbeds inevitable. Russia, the largest user of the MiG-21, retired its fleet in the 1990s as part of the general post-Soviet drawdown. China retired its last J-7s in 2023.
The last Romanian MiG-21 left service in May 2023, having been kept airborne for decades by an increasingly elaborate set of upgrades.
The retirement of the MiG-21 in India marks the end of the aircraft’s service with large, well-resourced air forces, leaving only a residue of those fleets still in operation around the world.
We don’t know precisely how many MiG-21s remain operational. A few air forces still have the Fishbed on the books. Still, these aircraft have often not been kept in a serviceable condition. Angola, Cuba, Mozambique, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria reportedly continue to fly the MiG-21 in small numbers.
However, the actual usefulness of the aircraft is likely limited by poor maintenance and poor pilot training.
The Chinese J-7 variant remains in service with Myanmar, North Korea, and Pakistan, although the numbers appear to be in drastic decline. A handful of MiG-21s and J-7s will probably be in service in 2029, marking seventy years of duty, but few will last much longer than that.
What Happens Now to the Fishbed?
The Fishbed remained in service for so long because it neatly fulfilled the most basic requirements of a second and third-generation jet fighter.
Fast, loud, and visually impressive, it did what its owners demanded of it in terms of fighting low-grade wars and offering a degree of deterrence in the air.
For air forces that needed to put fast planes in the air as quickly as possible, it provided a quick and dirty solution.
But to all things there is a season, and the day of the Fishbed has passed.
Without any great powers still operating the jet, it will be increasingly complex for smaller air forces to source parts, training, maintenance, and upgrades.
It is unlikely that India will find a market for its now-retired fighters.
Before all that long, the only remaining Fishbeds will be in the hands of enthusiasts or in aviation museums.
About the Author: Dr. Robert Farley
Dr. Robert Farley has taught security and diplomacy courses at the Patterson School since 2005. He received his BS from the University of Oregon in 1997, and his Ph. D. from the University of Washington in 2004. Dr. Farley is the author of Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force (University Press of Kentucky, 2014), the Battleship Book (Wildside, 2016), Patents for Power: Intellectual Property Law and the Diffusion of Military Technology (University of Chicago, 2020), and most recently Waging War with Gold: National Security and the Finance Domain Across the Ages (Lynne Rienner, 2023). He has contributed extensively to a number of journals and magazines, including the National Interest, the Diplomat: APAC, World Politics Review, and the American Prospect. Dr. Farley is also a founder and senior editor of Lawyers, Guns and Money.
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