A French Rafale M naval multi-role fighter made its first arrested landing aboard the Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Vikrant on Thursday, October 29, and later launched from the ship's ski-jump during compatibility trials.
"The ongoing trials mark the first steps towards operationalisation of the aircraft in the Indian Navy," the service said in a social media post on Friday, October 30.
Vikrant operates in a short take-off but arrested recovery configuration. The Rafale M's established carrier operations are aboard the French Navy nuclear-powered carrier Charles de Gaulle, which uses catapult launches and arrested recoveries.
The shipboard trials followed carrier-compatibility testing at the Shore-Based Test Facility at INS Hansa in Goa, which reproduces ski-jump launches and arrested recoveries ashore. The New Indian Express reported that this testing began about a week before the carrier landing.
The same report noted that the non-folding Rafale M has a 10.9-metre wingspan, wider than Vikrant's approximately 10-metre aircraft lifts, which were designed around the folding wing-equipped MiG-29K. The lifts would require modification, wingtip pylons may need removing for lift movements and specialised systems are being installed aboard the carrier, according to the newspaper.
India and France signed the Rafale acquisition agreement on April 28, 2025, covering 22 single-seat carrier fighters and four twin-seat shore-based trainers. The Indian Government valued the package at INR630 billion (US$6.6 billion), with deliveries to be completed by 2030.
The Indian Government has assigned the aircraft fleet roles in air defence, attacks on maritime targets, reconnaissance and shore strike, with armament including Meteor air-to-air missiles, Exocet anti-ship missiles and SCALP-EG land-attack missiles. It describes the Rafale M as an interim capability pending development of the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter.
Vikrant was commissioned on September 2, 2022, after construction by Cochin Shipyard. The 262.5-metre carrier displaces about 45,000 tonnes and can embark up to 30 aircraft.
India's current carrier fighters are MiG-29K/KUB aircraft operated from Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya.