The Indian Navy took delivery of the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier on July 28, 2022. It is the first Indian-designed aircraft carrier, with the majority of its components also locally sourced. 

The INS Vikrant has a displacement of around 40,000 tons and a length of 262 meters (860 feet), slightly shorter than the INS Vikramaditya, the flagship of the Indian Navy based on a Soviet Kiev-class aircraft carrier.  

Like every carrier of the Indian Navy so far, the INS Vikrant is in Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) configuration, meaning that it is equipped with a ski-jump ramp to allow carrier-capable aircraft to take off. 

India’s naval aviation currently flies 26 MiG-29K fighters. However, the nation is currently holding a competition to replace them. Two candidates are being considered: the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Dassault Rafale fighter jet.  

The US and French aircraft carriers use a catapult launch system (CATOBAR) for their aircraft. Thus, the two fighters had to prove their capacity to perform a ski-jump take-off from a ramp at Naval Station Hansa in Goa, India. 

 

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