Achieving yet another milestone, the carrier version of India's in-service Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas -- LCA Navy -- has successfully landed on the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya for the first time, Livefist has reported.

According to the defence blog, which is run by journalist Shiv Aroor, a prototype of the LAC Navy landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier.

Commodore Jaideep Maolankar did the maiden landing. The Defence Research and Development Organisation has also confirmed the development. “Commodore Jaideep Maolankar did the maiden landing,” it said on Twitter.

"With this feat, the indigenously developed niche technologies specific to deck-based fighter operations have been proven, which will now pave the way to develop and manufacture the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter for the #IndianNavy," the Indian Navy tweeted.


Defence minister Rajnath Singh hailed the DRDO and the Indian Navy after Saturday's successful test.

"Extremely happy to learn of the maiden landing of DRDO developed LCA Navy on INS Vikramaditya. This successful landing is a great event in the history of Indian Fighter aircraft development programme. Congratulations to Team @DRDO_India & @indiannavy for this achievement," Singh tweeted.

In September last year, the aircraft had successfully carried out a maiden "arrested landing” at a shore-based test facility in Goa.

In December 2016, the Navy had announced that it will not induct the fighter jet as it was “overweight” and unsuitable for carrier-operations. The fighter, which is "too heavy", does not meet the "thrust-to-weight requirement to take off with a full fuel and arms load" from an aircraft carrier, the Navy had said.


"We will continue to support Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) but the naval LCA in its present form unfortunately does not meet our qualitative requirements for carrier capability," the then Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, had had told reporters at a press conference.

However, Lanba had said that the Navy will continue to support the project.

"We are committed to indigenisation. We have supported the LCA Navy project and we will continue to support it," he was quoted as saying.

With the landing, India became the sixth nation after Russia, US, France, UK and China to have mastered the art of an arrested landing and ski-jump take-off on the deck of a carrier.


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