In a first, Naval LCA lands on INS Vikrant

In a landmark moment, the indigenous naval fighter LCA Navy on Monday landed on aircraft carrier INS Vikrant as the first step towards achieving India’s long-term ambition of having home-grown combat jets take off and touch down from an indigenous aircraft carrier.

“The maiden landing of LCA Navy onboard INS Vikrant is a historical milestone as naval pilots carry out landing of LCA-Navy onboard INS Vikrant. This demonstrates India’s capability to design, develop, construct and operate indigenous aircraft carriers with indigenous fighter aircraft,” an Indian Navy spokesperson said.

The aircraft’s precise landing on the deck using tail hooks and arrester wires comes after hundreds of such practice drills at the shore-based testing facility at INS Hansa in Goa, where naval aviators perfected their skills before landing on INS Vikrant, which was sailing in the Arabian Sea off Goa.

On an aircraft carrier, combat pilots flew in with full throttle for landing as they got only a few seconds to get the powerful aircraft hooked with the arrester wire because of a very short runway. This requires extreme skill and precision, which the pilots muster after hours of practice. In case of a failure, the pilot takes off again from the deck and comes back for a second chance.

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Since her commissioning, INS Vikrant has undergone several trials to become combat-ready. The aviation trials began in mid-December, initially with helicopters and subsequently progressed to fighters.

The Russian-origin MiG-29K fighters that operate from India’s second aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya also landed and took off from INS Vikrant on Monday.

The successful landing and take-off of the indigenous LCA Navy on India’s first Indigenous aircraft carrier is a momentous step. The maiden landing of the MiG-29K also heralds the integration of the fighter aircraft with INS Vikrant,” Navy Chief Adm R Hari Kumar said.

Ironically LCA-Navy is the same aircraft discarded by the maritime force just six years ago, with then Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said that the navy was looking for alternatives as HAL-made LCA-Navy would not make the cut for INS Vikrant and the proposed IAC-2.

But with active support from successive defence ministers, the project survived with HAL and DRDO working together to make key changes enabling the carrier-borne jet to achieve its milestones as the search for an alternative to the MiG-29K continued due to the Russian jet’s poor serviceability record.

The landing of MiG-29K on-board INS Vikrant, the spokesperson said, was also significant as it marked the successful integration of the aircraft with the indigenous carrier.

As the Navy plans to buy 57 more deck-borne fighter aircraft, two jets - Dassault Aviation’s Rafale-M and Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet - are in contention. Both aircraft participated in the trial last year. The Navy and the Defence Ministry are evaluating the trial reports.