Rafale Marine Makes First Landing on INS Vikrant as India Tests Carrier Compatibility

First landing and takeoff bring the French fighter onto an Indian carrier

A Rafale Marine fighter made its first landing on INS Vikrant on October 29, 2026, catching the aircraft carrier's arresting wires on its first attempt during trials in the Arabian Sea. The Indian Navy confirmed the landing on October 30 and released video of the aircraft approaching the deck.

The jet also took off from the carrier during the trials, according to officials familiar with the programme. The flights bring India's purchase of 26 French fighters closer to deployment aboard its two aircraft carriers, INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya.

The immediate task is to fit a fighter developed for France's carrier system into India's different launch arrangement. Vikrant uses an upward ramp to help aircraft take off. France's Charles de Gaulle, where the Rafale Marine already serves, uses a catapult to accelerate aircraft along the deck.

The Indian Navy, describing the purpose of the trials in its October 30 announcement, said:

The ongoing trials mark the first steps towards operationalisation of the aircraft in the Indian Navy.

For the Navy, operationalisation means preparing the aircraft, ship, pilots and maintenance teams to work together during regular missions. Further flight tests, training and technical preparations are planned before the fighters enter routine service.

What the carrier trials are testing

INS Vikrant is a moving airfield with a short runway and tightly organised working space. An aircraft approaching its deck must line up precisely, touch down within a limited area and use a hook beneath its tail to catch a cable that rapidly brings it to a stop.

The Rafale Marine has reinforced landing gear and a strengthened structure for those stresses. Its tail hook provides the connection to the carrier's arresting wires. The October 29 landing demonstrated that recovery process aboard Vikrant as the Navy continues assessing the aircraft's operating limits.

The wider evaluation covers takeoff and landing margins, movement around the flight deck, hangar clearances and the dimensions of the lifts that move aircraft between decks. The Rafale Marine's wingspan of 10.9 metres is one of the measurements that ship crews must accommodate when planning those movements.

These checks affect how aircraft are parked, serviced, brought up from the hangar and prepared for another flight. A carrier needs a repeatable routine that allows crews to handle several aircraft safely, including when other jets are landing or preparing to launch.

Why India's ski jump requires separate testing

Vikrant and Vikramaditya use Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery, known as STOBAR. The aircraft accelerates using its own engines, leaves the deck over a ski jump and returns by catching an arresting wire.

France's Charles de Gaulle uses Catapult-Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery, or CATOBAR. A catapult supplies extra acceleration during launch, while recovery also uses arresting wires. The main difference for the Rafale's Indian deployment is therefore how it gets airborne.

Before the sea trials, French pilots conducted tests at the Shore-Based Test Facility at INS Hansa in Goa. Its simulated carrier deck includes a ski jump, allowing the launch arrangement to be examined on land before testing aboard a ship.

The sea programme brings the aircraft into Vikrant's actual operating environment. Further trials are expected to include night landings, weapons integration and the work needed for operational clearance. No dates have been announced for completing those stages.

A Rs 63,000 crore purchase with a wider support package

India and France signed their intergovernmental agreement on April 28, 2025, for 26 Rafale aircraft for the Navy at an estimated cost of Rs 63,000 crore. Dassault Aviation manufactures the aircraft.

The order consists of 22 fighters with a single seat and four aircraft with two seats for training. Those figures put the combat fighter component at about 85% of the purchase, with trainers accounting for the remaining 15%. The package combines the aircraft with the equipment and support needed to introduce them into service.

Weapons, flight simulators, associated equipment, logistics support and personnel training in France and India are included. Simulators allow crews to practise procedures on the ground, while logistics support covers the continuing supply and servicing arrangements that keep aircraft ready to fly.

The Rafale Marine was selected after an evaluation against Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet. India's choice also creates a second service operating the Rafale family: the Indian Air Force already has 36 aircraft designed for operations from land.

Delivery dates still need clarification

Officials familiar with the programme put the first deliveries in 2029 and completion in 2031; other published schedules place the start between mid-2028 and early 2029, with completion around 2030. The schedule accompanying the April 2025 purchase also gives 2030 as the completion target.

A single confirmed delivery calendar would help explain when the Navy can begin receiving aircraft and how quickly it can build its operational fleet. Training, maintenance preparation and carrier trials are already part of the work leading up to that transition.

The main dates in the programme are:

• September 2022: INS Vikrant entered service with the Indian Navy.
• April 28, 2025: India and France signed the agreement for 26 Rafale aircraft for naval aviation.
• Before the carrier landing: Trials at INS Hansa in Goa examined operation with a simulated ski jump.
• October 29, 2026: A Rafale Marine completed its first landing on INS Vikrant, with a takeoff also reported during the trials.
• October 30, 2026: The Navy announced the landing and shared video.
• 2028 to 2031: Published delivery schedules span this period, with different dates for the beginning and completion of deliveries.

How the aircraft would change naval missions

The Rafale Marine is intended to support air defence, attacks on ships, reconnaissance and strikes against targets on land. Operating from a carrier allows those missions to begin at sea rather than from an airfield on India's coast.

The aircraft carries the Thales RBE2 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, usually shortened to AESA. Such a radar steers its beam electronically, helping it search for and track targets. The SPECTRA electronic warfare suite helps the aircraft detect and respond to threats.

The Rafale's listed weapons include Meteor and MICA missiles for attacking aircraft, AM39 Exocet missiles for attacking ships, and SCALP-EG cruise missiles for strikes on land. Those weapons serve different purposes: defending a naval force against aircraft requires a different missile from one used against a ship or a target ashore.

Powered by two Safran M88 engines, the fighter has a stated maximum speed of Mach 1.8, approximately 2,200 kilometres per hour. Its practical value to a carrier force also depends on the weapons it carries, the missions crews are trained to perform and how reliably the ship can launch and recover it.

Replacing MiG-29Ks across two carriers

INS Vikrant currently operates fighters from India's Russian origin MiG-29K fleet. The Rafale aircraft are expected to replace that fleet gradually, with serviceability problems among the reasons for seeking a newer naval fighter.

Serviceability describes how many aircraft are fit and available to fly. For a carrier far from shore, maintenance arrangements and spare parts matter alongside the number of aircraft assigned to the ship. A fighter awaiting repairs occupies space without being available for a mission.

The planned Rafale fleet is intended to operate from both Vikrant and Vikramaditya. Introducing it across two ships will require preparations for each carrier's deck routines, maintenance arrangements and aircraft handling procedures.

India's Air Force experience with 36 Rafales provides familiarity with the aircraft family. Naval service adds the demands of launch ramps, arrested landings and operations at sea. Once the naval aircraft enter service, India would become the first country outside France to operate both the land and naval variants.

Vikrant's size and Indian construction

Built at Cochin Shipyard in Kerala and commissioned in September 2022, INS Vikrant is India's first domestically built aircraft carrier. It displaces approximately 45,000 tonnes and has 76% indigenous content.

The ship is 262 metres long, with 15 decks and about 2,300 compartments. It has space for 30 aircraft and a crew of around 1,600, with a stated endurance of 7,500 nautical miles. Its aircraft capacity covers the air group carried aboard, including fighters and helicopters.

Vikrant took 13 years to build at a cost of about Rs 20,000 crore. The Rafale procurement, at roughly Rs 63,000 crore, is more than three times that construction figure, although it purchases a different package: aircraft, weapons, training, infrastructure and continuing support.

The carrier gives India a platform from which to deploy aviation far from coastal airfields. Integrating the Rafale would change the aircraft available for that role while retaining the ship's existing ski jump and arresting wire arrangement.

Indian facilities form part of the transition

The agreement includes provisions for Rafale fuselage production facilities in India and maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities for engines, sensors and weapons. A fuselage is the main body of an aircraft, around which major structures and systems are assembled.

Maintenance and overhaul facilities address the work needed after aircraft enter service. Engines, radar equipment and weapons require inspection, repair and, at intervals, more extensive servicing. Establishing those capabilities in India would support the fleet beyond its initial delivery period.

The deal also provides for technology transfer to integrate Indian weapons. Integration involves making a weapon work with the aircraft's equipment and software, followed by the testing and approvals required for its use.

The next stages therefore extend beyond another successful landing. Night operations, weapons testing, crew training and technical clearance will determine how the Navy moves from individual trial flights to a force that can deploy routinely across the Indian Ocean.

Key Points

• A Rafale Marine landed on INS Vikrant on its first attempt on October 29, 2026. A takeoff was also reported during the trials.
• The Navy confirmed the landing on October 30 and released video.
• Testing covers India's ski jump launch system, arrested recovery, deck handling and space aboard the carrier.
• The April 2025 agreement covers 22 fighters and four trainers, alongside weapons, training, equipment and support.
• The aircraft are intended for INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya, gradually replacing MiG-29Ks.
• Published delivery schedules give different dates between 2028 and 2031.
• Further trials, training and technical preparations are planned before regular deployment.