NEW DELHI: The Navy's effort to integrate the French-made Rafale Marine (Rafale-M) with its desi aircraft carrier cleared a key milestone Thursday, when the fighter landed on INS Vikrant on its maiden attempt.
In a statement issued Friday, the Navy said that the "ongoing trials mark the first steps towards operationalisation of the aircraft in the Indian Navy".
The landing comes a week after the Navy began trials of the Rafale-M at its Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa in Goa, which replicates a carrier's ski-jump and arrestor wires, to assess the modifications needed for the jet to operate from Vikrant.
In January 2022, the Rafale-M underwent 12 days of trials on the same facility's 283-metre mock-up ski-jump to prove it could take off from Indian carriers. It was then competing with Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, which went through similar trials at INS Hansa in June that year. The Rafale-M eventually emerged as the frontrunner.
The Rafale-Ms were designed for the French Navy's nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle, which uses catapults to launch aircraft under the CATOBAR (catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery) system. Meanwhile, INS Vikrant uses the STOBAR (short take-off but arrested recovery) configuration instead, with fighters taking off from a ski-jump ramp and landing with the help of arrester wires.
Additionally, the Rafale-M has fixed, non-folding wings with a 10.9-metre span. That makes it wider than Vikrant's aircraft lifts, which are roughly 10 metres wide. The lifts move aircraft between the hangar below and the flight deck and they were designed for the Russian-origin MiG-29K fighters, which have folding wings.
Work is now underway on both fronts. As reported earlier, Vikrant's lifts will need some modifications, and the jet's wingtip pylons may have to be removed during lift operations. The Navy is also installing specialised systems on the carrier to accommodate the new fighters.
India inked the Rs 63,000 crore deal with France in April last year for the 26 Rafale-Ms, which include 22 single-seat fighters and four twin-seat trainers. Deliveries are slated to begin in late 2028. The Navy, on its part, is also mulling an additional order for another 31 such jets.
The Rafale-Ms will initially operate from Vikrant and later from the older INS Vikramaditya, where the squeeze will be even tighter. The centre lift on the Russian-origin Vikramaditya is 9.9 metres wide, which makes it narrower still.
The new fighters will serve alongside and eventually replace the Navy's MiG-29Ks, which have long been dogged by serviceability issues. They will fill the gap until the indigenous twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) is ready.
