The Indian Navy says that on March 28, helicopters landed for the first time at night on INS Vikrant. This was a huge accomplishment.
During tests, a Kamov 31 helicopter made its first night landing on INS Vikrant. This made it possible for INS Vikrant to do operations at night.
“As part of the trials, the lighting aids and shipborne systems were tested from the carrier,” said a tweet from Indian Aerospace Defence News.
Maiden night landing of helicopter at INS VIKRANT (R11)#Ka31 AEW from INAS 339 undertook trials successfully thereby proving night ops from Vikrant. As part of the trials, the lighting aids & shipborne systems were proven from the carrier.#IADN pic.twitter.com/79Zr2zpGOU
— Indian Aerospace Defence News (IADN) (@NewsIADN) April 4, 2023
On Twitter, several pictures of the successful trials were also posted. The trials were also shown in pictures on the official INS Vikrant account.
#INSVikrant all decked up and it wasn’t long before Falcons decided to wake up the silent night sky!#R11 @indiannavy pic.twitter.com/3KSPG3wJon
— INS Vikrant (@IN_R11Vikrant) April 4, 2023
The INS Vikrant has more than 2,300 cabins for its crew of about 1,700 people. There are special cabins for women officers.
Admiral R. Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, said in February, “The successful landing and take-off of the indigenous LCA Navy on India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is a major step toward the realization of our shared vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
The successful landing and take-off of the indigenous LCA Navy on India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is a momentous step forward towards the realisation of our collective vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’: Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff pic.twitter.com/s8M8gS11jq
— ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2023
“The Mig-29first K’s landing also marks the beginning of the fighter plane’s integration with the INS Vikrant. Admiral Hari Kumar said, “Congratulations to everyone who made it happen.”
In September of last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the INS Vikrant (IAC I) into service. This made India one of a small group of countries that can make aircraft carriers that weigh more than 40,000 tons. The Navy had said that the aircraft carrier could help keep peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific area.
The carrier can go as fast as about 28 knots and can keep going for about 7,500 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots. It’s 262 meters long, 62 meters wide, and 59 meters high. The building of it began in 2009.
-
-
-
-
