The naval version of the indigenously built Tejas light combat aircraft on January 12 successfully took off from the “ski-jump” deck of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in a big leap in overall development of the jet.

The ski-jump is the upwardly curved ramp on the deck of aircraft carriers designed to provide sufficient take-off lift for fighter jets.

“The naval version of Tejas achieved another important milestone by successfully undertaking the maiden ski-jump take-off from INS Vikramaditya,” a Navy spokesperson said.

On January 11, the aircraft made its first landing on the deck of INS Vikramaditya, which was also a major milestone.

Both the landing and take-off by the aircraft put India among a select group of nations having the capability to design such a jet which can operate from an aircraft carrier.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is involved in the development of the naval variant of Tejas along with Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Aircraft Research and Design Centre of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and CSIR, among others.

“This landmark event demonstrates professional commitment and synergy between various agencies ADA, HAL, CEMILAC and Indian Navy in harnessing the potential of our scientists, engineers and naval flight testing community towards meeting the expectations of the nation,” the Navy tweeted.

After the successful landing of the aircraft on INS Vikramaditya, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called it a “great event” in the history of the Indian fighter aircraft development programme.

The naval version of the Tejas is in the development stage.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already inducted a batch of Tejas aircraft.

Initially, the IAF had placed an order with HAL for 40 Tejas aircraft.

In 2018, the IAF issued the request for proposal to HAL for the procurement of another batch of 83 Tejas at a cost of more than Rs 50,000 crore.

India to acquire 200 fighter jets

The government is in the process of acquiring around 200 aircraft to cope with the depleting aerial inventories of the IAF, said defence secretary Ajay Kumar.

The contract for 83 Tejas Mark 1 A advanced fighter jets are in the final stages, he said.

Apart from these, expression of interest has been floated for another 110 aircraft, based on which a request for proposal (RFP) will be floated, Kumar said.

Kumar said that the contract for the LCAs will be signed “definitely this year”.

Kumar said HAL will be ramping up production of the LCA Mark 1 A jets from eight to 16 per year.

The IAF has Sukhoi 30 MKIs, Mirage 2000s, Mig-29s and the ageing Jaguars and Mig-21 Bisons in its inventory of fighter jets at present. The last fleet of seven swing-wing MiG-27 fighters, which played an important role during the 1999 Kargil war, was decommissioned on December 27.

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