27-Dec-2019: Indian Air Force bid adieu to MiG 27

December 27th is the day when MiG-27 bid adieu to the Indian Air Force. Bidding farewell to its Bahadur, the Indian Air Force organised a decommissioning ceremony at the Jodhpur air base.

The MiG 27 is a soviet origin aircraft that was built under licence by HAL. all of its variants have been phased out in the recent past, only the MiG 27 Upgrade was the last serving fighter jet.

It's lovingly called Bahadur by its pilots for its valiant role in the Kargil War of 1999. In 1985, the swing wing fighter jet became a part of the IAF strike fleet and has always brought glory to the force.

The fighter aircraft has been the backbone of ground-attack fleet of the Air Force for over 34 years.

MiG-27 contributed significantly in wars and peace-keeping operations since Operation Parakram but emerged as the real hero in the 1999 Kargil war.

MiG-27 proved to be an "ace attacker" when it accurately delivered rockets and bombs at high altitudes at a speed of 1,700 kms/hour, during the Kargil war.

It's contribution in the Kargil war earned it the title 'Bahadur'.MiG-27 has been the backbone of the Indian Air Force for several decades.

Post the Kargil war, the fighter aircraft was upgraded in 2006.

It is to be noted that before this, the outdated versions of other fighter aircrafts MiG 23 BN, MiG 23 MF and MiG 27 were decommissioned from IAF fleet.