MiG-29K makes maiden night landing on INS Vikrant, Indian Navy says ‘historic milestone’

NEW DELHI: A MiG-29K fighter aircraft undertook a ‘maiden’ night landing on indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

The Navy said that this challenging accomplishment, within three months of the maiden day landing, demonstrates the resolve, skill and professionalism of the Indian Navy, Vikrant crew and Naval pilots.

Taking to Twitter, SpokespersonNavy said, “IndianNavy achieves another historic milestone by undertaking maiden night landing of MiG-29K on @IN_R11Vikrant indicative of the Navy’s impetus towards #aatmanirbharta. #AatmaNirbharBharat@PMOIndia @DefenceMinIndia.”

#WATCH | Indian Navy achieves another historic milestone by undertaking the maiden night landing of MiG-29K on INS Vikrant. This is indicative of Navy’s impetus towards aatmanirbharta: Indian Navy

(Video: Indian Navy) pic.twitter.com/VxmKZdTssx

— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2023

The night landing of the Russian-origin MiG-29K took place on May 24 when the ship was sailing in the Arabian Sea. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also congratulated the Indian Navy for the successful maiden night landing trials of MiG-29K on INS Vikrant.

“Congratulations to the Indian Navy for successfully undertaking the maiden night landing trials of MiG-29K on #INSVikrant. This remarkable achievement is a testimony to the skills, perseverance and professionalism of the Vikrant crew and Naval pilots. Kudos to them”, the Defence Minister tweeted.

INS Vikrant, the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier and the most complex warship ever built in the country by Cochin Shipyard Ltd, has undergone extensive sea trials since her maiden sailing on August 4, 2021.

Commissioned into the Indian Navy on September 2 last year, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the carrier is a big boost to the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision of the Government of India.

The carrier is presently undergoing Air Certification and Flight Integration Trials with Rotary Wing and Fixed Wing aircraft for achieving a ‘combat ready’ state at the earliest.

As part of the trials, the maiden day landing of MiG-29K and the indigenous LCA (Navy) was achieved on February 6, 2023. Since then, day and night landing trials of all helicopters in the Naval inventory have been progressed. (ANI)