On December 27, the Indian Air Force (IAF) bids farewell to the last of the MiG-27 attack jets dubbed "Bahadur" (“Valiant”) in a ceremony held at Air Force Station Jodhpur in Rajasthan, northwestern India

Indian MIG-27 (Picture source: Indian Air Force)

The Indian Air Force received about 165 MiG-27MLs between 1985 and 1994 and had a peak of seven MiG-27 squadrons. The MiG-27 was optimized as a high-speed, ultra-low-level ground attack aircraft and gained a reputation as a rock-solid and stable platform for strafe and rocket attacks The fighter jets were licence-manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). They were originally built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union.

All the other variants, such as MiG-23 BN and MiG-23 MF and the pure MiG 27 have already retired from IAF.

"This formidable ground-attack fighter aircraft has served the Nation for over three decades. Inducted in 1985, MiG-27 has been the mainstay of IAF's ground attack capability. It has participated in all major IAF operations and has played a stellar role in the 1999 Kargil War," the IAF said in a tweet.

Inducted in 1985, MiG-27 has been the mainstay of IAF's ground attack capability (Picture source: Indian Air Force)