New Delhi, India: The Indian Naval Pilots, in a recent breakthrough, made the first-ever successful landing of MiG-29K on INS Vikrant, which is a major demonstration of India’s prominence in Aircraft designing, construction and operations and the enhanced Naval Combat readiness. The Indian Navy took to Twitter, where they shared the landing video of the MiG-29K on INS Vikrant.
Admiral R Hari Kumar, the Chief of the Naval Staff, remarked the feat to be momentous achievement and a greater leap towards India’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. “The successful landing as well as take-off of the indigenous LCA Navy on the first Indian indigenous Aircraft Carrier is a commendable step towards the realisation of the Indian vision of AatmanirbharBharat“, stated Kumar. He further congratulated the staff and crew who contributed to the success.
The INS Vikrant is India’s first indigenous Aircraft Carrier and the most complex warship India has ever built. Commendably, the ship has been designed in-house by Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau, while construction has been undertaken by the M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited. The first sea trials for INS Vikrant were conducted on August 4, 2021, followed by numerous trials of Main Propulsion, Power Generation Equipment, Fire-fighting Setups and many other aspects, before being commissioned to the army on September 2, 2022.
The construction of the Carrier is sure to provide an impetus to the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ ambitions of the Indian Government. The Carrier has been used in extensive air operations with the Rotary Wing and Fixed Wing aircraft since December 13,2022 for Air Certification and Flight Integration Trials to be acclaimed as ‘Combat Ready’.
Under the Aviation trials, the landing of the LCA and MiG-29K onboard INS Vikrant was conducted on February 6, 2023 by the Indian Naval Test Pilots, which is considered one of the greatest feats to be achieved for the Naval forces of India.
