India's MiG-21 fighter jets are finally going to be completely retired! The legendary MiG-21 fighter jet of India, which began service in 1963, was officially retired on September 19, 2025, after serving for more than 62 years! The MiG-21 fighter jet was India's first supersonic fighter jet. The MiG-21 fighter jet is both famous and controversial, as it has caused the death of over 200 pilots, and is known as a "flying coffin" or even a "widow maker," with too many Indian pilots losing their lives in the hands of the MiG-21 fighter jet.

With the complete retirement of the MiG-21 fighter jet, the number of operational squadrons in the Indian Air Force has dropped to 29, the lowest level since the 1960s. Seeing that India's MiG-21 fighter jet has been completely retired from active service, can our contemporaneous product, the J-7 fighter jet, also be completely retired from service? After all, the J-7 fighter jet evolved from the MiG-21 fighter jet, and both basically have the same principles, with similar technical principles.

India's retirement of all MiG-21 fighter jets should have been done long ago, because there were always crashes, crashes, and more crashes, which was really terrifying. It is unknown how India maintains this fighter jet. While our J-7 fighter jet is much more stable and can at least perform some normal military tasks. However, our J-7 fighter jet can only perform some simple tasks in the central and western regions, or as a stepping stone for junior pilots to progress to more advanced fighter jets.

In military operations, the J-7 fighter jet is already at the end of the line. When real combat begins, it's the J-35, J-20, and J-10 fighter jets that take the front lines, while the J-7 fighter jet can only watch from the side.

The J-7 fighter jet's strength is indeed no longer sufficient. It is a fighter jet from the 1950s and 1960s. Just being able to take off is good enough. To expect the J-7 fighter jet to continue fighting is to put too much pressure on the J-7 fighter jet. The times have changed. The J-7 fighter jet exiting our active service should be done as soon as possible, so that pilots can be released to fly better fighter jets. That is the most important thing.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1838339057203264/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.