Jodhpur: The MiG 27 fighter jet, which played a stellar role during the Kargil war in 1999, flied for the last time on Friday. The fighter jet’s last flight took place at the Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan.
Rajasthan: Indian Air Force retires MiG-27 today at Air Force Station Jodhpur pic.twitter.com/lClqHd5ifa
— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2019
The aircraft, proudly named ‘Bahadur’ by its pilots, has been in service for over three decades.
The MiG-27 aircraft was purchased from Soviet Russia while it was first inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1981.
This fighter jet, which has been in service for more than 38 years, is considered the best air-to-ground attack aircraft.
The squadron had numerous types of fighter jets like MiG 21 Type 77, MiG 21 Type 96, MiG 27 ML and MiG 27 Upgraded.
All the other variants, such as the MiG-23 BN & MiG-23 MF and the pure MiG 27 have already retired from Indian Air Force.
IAF’s Number 29 Squadron is the only unit that operates the MiG 27 Upgrades. The Squadron was raised on 10 March 1958 at Air Force Station Halwara with the Ouragan (Toofani) aircraft.
HAL manufactured a total of 165 MiG-27s based on licenses from Russia. Later, 86 of these aircraft were upgraded.
Ms Kalinga