India's new aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya , has begun operational deployment along with its MiG-29K ('Fulcrum D') fighter group on board, newly appointed Indian Navy (IN) Chief of Staff Admiral R K Dhowan said on 7 May.
"The navy has inducted INS Vikramaditya . It is now operationally deployed with MiG- 29KUB aircraft embarked, which are being flown by Indian naval pilots," Adm Dhowan told reporters at a function in Kochi, southern India.
"IN pilots and air controllers have been certified and all aspects of operating the MiG-29K fighters from the carrier deck, including night landings, have been accomplished," an IN spokesman told IHS Jane's .
He said the pilots were assisted by the carrier's Resistor-E automated air-traffic control system, which provides approach, landing and short range navigation assistance.
The carrier's air wing will eventually comprise 16 MiG-29Ks, including four twin-seat KUB trainer variants, alongside six airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) Kamov Ka-31 and Kamov Ka-28 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters.
The 44,750-tonne modified Kiev-class carrier arrived in India in January after an almost nine-year, USD2.33 billion refurbishment at Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia. It is homeported at INS Kadamba in Karwar on India's west coast and forms part of the IN's Western Command, headquartered at Mumbai.
Vikramaditya is not fitted with close-in weapon systems but IN officials said that by 2017 it will be armed with the Rafael-Israel Aerospace Industries Barak 8 air-defence missile system, which has a 6-70 km strike range and is being jointly developed with India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.
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