A Rafale Marine (Rafale-M) fighter aircraft has successfully landed on board the Indian Navy's indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant on its maiden attempt on October 29, the Indian Navy announced on October 30, releasing video of the arrested landing. "The ongoing trials mark the first steps towards operationalisation of the aircraft in the Indian Navy," the Navy said.

The aircraft that landed belongs to France and was flown as part of the first shipboard flight campaign to check the jet's compatibility with the carrier, reports said, because the first of India's own 26 Rafale-M jets is not expected before the end of 2028.

From Goa's shore ramp to Vikrant's deck

The landing is the next major development after the shore-based phase reported earlier: take-off and approach trials began around October 22 at the Shore-Based Test Facility at INS Hansa in Goa, which uses a mock ski jump to validate the modifications the jet needs to operate from Indian decks. The shipboard landing now tests the same aircraft against the real carrier — its ski-jump launch system and arrestor wires.

The compatibility question is a real one. The Rafale-M was designed for catapult launches from the French carrier Charles de Gaulle, while INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya launch aircraft from a ski jump and recover them with arrestor wires — a different system, known as STOBAR, that the trials are meant to prove the French jet can work with.

29 Oct 2026first landing on INS Vikrant
26Rafale-M jets ordered by India
22 + 4single-seat + twin-seat aircraft
Rs 63,000 croreapprox. value of the 2025 deal (yaani about Rs 630 billion)

India and France signed an intergovernmental agreement on April 28, 2025 for 22 single-seat and four twin-seat Rafale-M fighters valued at about Rs 63,000 crore. The naval variant carries a strengthened airframe and landing gear and a specialised arrestor hook, and is set to bring the RBE2 radar, the SPECTRA electronic warfare suite and Meteor, MICA, SCALP and Exocet missiles to India's carrier fleet.

A second trials campaign is planned for early next year, after which Indian Navy pilots and technicians are due to train in France before deliveries begin in 2028, with full delivery of the 26 aircraft expected by 2030. Until then, the Russian-built MiG-29K remains the principal fighter on INS Vikrant, which was commissioned on September 2, 2022 as the first aircraft carrier designed and built in India.

Source: Indian Navy via ANI