Naval version of Light Combat Aircraft successfully lands on INS Vikrant; see video

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, February 6

In an important development, the naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) made a maiden successful landing on the deck of sea-borne aircraft carrier INS Vikrant on Monday. 

In January 2020, the LCA Navy landed on the INS Vikramaditya.   

The landing of the jet on the deck of the INS Vikrant is part of the development of a twin-engine deck-based fighter jet for the Navy. The jet that landed today is a single-engine jet and the under-development twin-engine variant is the one slated to be inducted.

The event today demonstrates India’s capability to design, develop, construct and  operate Indigenous aircraft carrier with indigenous fighter aircraft.

The LCA Navy landing was done as the carrier was sailing in the Arabian Sea as part of its integration with the Navy fleet.

Landing on the deck of a fighter jet is a complex procedure; the landing space is some 200 metres and the jet coming in to land has to be restrained using a set of three ‘arrestor wires’. In Navy parlance, it is called ‘arrested landing’.

The landing gear of a naval jet is different from the jets used by the IAF. The under-carriage has to be strong enough to be held back by the arrestor wires.