The Sea Harrier fighter jets, which have remained in the forefront of Indian naval aviation for the past 33 years, will be de-inducted from the Navy, while MIG 29 K fighter jets will be inducted into the force, at a simultaneous ceremony to be held at INS Hansa at Vasco in Goa on May 11.
With the scheduled decommissioning of INS Viraat and great difficulty in maintenance of the aging jets, the Sea Harriers are being de-inducted from the Indian Navy at the May 11 ceremony.
At the same ceremony where Admiral RK Dhowan, Chief of the Naval Staff will be the chief guest, a fleet of 45 MiG 29K fighters will be inducted into the Indian Navy.
After their induction, three squadrons will be operating 15 MiG 29K fighters each from INS Vikramaditya, a Defence spokesperson said here on Wednesday.
In their last public appearance, four Sea Harry fighters had participated in the International Fleet Review (IFR) — 2016 held in Vishakapatanam in February this year.
The Sea Harrier fighter jets have been the main stay of Indian Naval air arm since 1983.
Following the phasing out of the then obsolete Seahawk from the Royal Navy in the early 1960s, the Indian Navy had trained its sight on the STOl/VTOl Harrier developed by the British Aerospace. In November 1979, the Naval HQ placed an order for 06 Sea Harrier FRS Mk 51 fighters and 02 T Mk 60 Trainers, for delivery in 1983.
The first three Sea Harriers, flying via Malta, luxor and Dubai, led by lt Cdr Arun Prakash VrC, landed at Dabolim on December 16, 1983. This was followed by the first deck landing on the carrier, INS Vikrant, on December 20, 1983 and the arrival of the first Sea Harrier T Mk 60 trainer, on 29 Mar 1984.
The reborn, White tigers of the Indian Navy were now a totally professional outfit and came out with flying colours during frequent embarkations, joint exercises, Dissimilar Aircraft Combat Training and Air to Air gunnery exercises.
The white tigers’ squadron was embarked on the carrier during the Operations Vijay and Parakram providing the essential offensive posture to the country and ensuring readiness to react to any escalation by the enemy.
Always operating with modest equipment and resources, yet coming out with extraordinary results, the White tigers have built an enviable reputation for themselves and continue to remain at the forefront of Indian Naval aviation.
Having undergone a weapon and avionics upgrade since 2007 to match up with any opposition, the upgraded Sea Harrier christened lUSH (limited Upgrade Sea Harrier) were a shot in the arm for the Indian Naval aviation.
The Sea Harriers, with their inventory of armament were ever ready for the present day Beyond Visual Range environment in which modern aircrafts operate.Post limited upgrade in which the aircraft was fitted with a new Multimode Radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile and a Datalink, the Sea Harrier fleet had redeemed itself as the best Carrier borne ‘air defence fighter-interceptor’ in the Indian Ocean Region. The flexibility offered by the aircrafts capability to undertake Short/Vertical takeoffs and landings had enabled it to operate from any fixed wing carrier and had regularly conducted cross deck landings on ships of foreign navies.
With the induction of MiG 29K fighters, the Indian Navy’s air arm will be strengthened considerably. MiG-29K carrier-variant fighter jets are manufactured by Russian Aircraft Corporation-MiG.
India had contracted 45 MiG-29K carrier-based fighters from Russia in two batches — 16 fighters in 2004 along with the contact for acquiring aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and another 29 fighters in 2010.
Incidentally, India is the first launch customer of the carrier variant of MiG-29 even before the Russian Navy. While 16 aircraft fly from INS Vikramaditya, the remaining Mi9-29K are to operate from the under-construction indigenous carrier Vikrant, once it enters into service 2018.