An Indian Navy MiG-29K fighter jet on Wednesday landed on the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant for the first time at night, an important step towards the warship becoming fully operational along with its air wing by the year-end, navy officials said on Thursday.

The aircraft carrier is currently sailing in the Arabian Sea. It was commissioned into the navy last September, marking a pivotal point in the country’s quest for self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector.

“The challenging night landing trial demonstrates the resolve, skill and professionalism of the Vikrant crew and naval pilots,” navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said. The development came three months after a MiG-29K and a prototype of the naval version of the locally made light combat aircraft (LCA) landed and took off from the aircraft carrier for the first time during day in February.

The aircraft carrier is presently undergoing air certification and flight integration trials with rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft to achieve combat-ready state at the earliest, Madhwal added.

The ongoing flight trials on board INS Vikrant involve the Russian-origin MiG-29K fighter jets that use the ski-jump to take-off, and are recovered by arrestor wires or what is known as STOBAR (short take-off but arrested recovery) in navy parlance.

Twelve MiG-29Ks are likely to be deployed on Vikrant, and the carrier will operate a new deck-based fighter that the navy is looking to buy as an interim measure to meet its requirements before the indigenous twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) is ready in a few years. The first prototype of TEDBF could make its maiden flight by 2026 and be ready for production by 2031, the officials said.