F/A 18 Super Hornet Fighter Jets

Before India's first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant is put into service, US aviation giant Boeing has suggested that the Indian Navy select the F/A 18 Super Hornet fighter plane.

Key Features of F/A 18

• The F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III is the most cutting-edge, battle-tested, multi-role frontline naval fighter in the world, offering special and differentiating capabilities as well as full compatibility with Indian Navy carriers.
• It is fully compliant with INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant aircraft carriers and was built and intended for carrier operations.
• The Indian Navy's aircraft carriers will have lifts, a hangar, and a deck where the F/A-18 may operate.
• It will advance the way manned and unmanned systems interact in a carrier environment.
• By maintaining the optimum glide slope and approach speeds, the Super Hornet's Precision Landing Mode software is specifically created to save pilot workload while landing on the Vikramaditya ship of the Indian Navy.
• It is independent of the carrier's optical landing system and has completely redundant systems.
• Both the single-seater (E-Variant) and two-seater (F-Variant) versions of the F/A-18 Super Hornet are carrier compatible and capable of carrying out the complete spectrum of combat operations.
• The two-seater is also an effective trainer aircraft, both carrier-borne and onshore.

IAC Vikrant

• The first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy, Vikrant is the largest warship ever constructed in India.
• India is now part of a select group of countries with the capacity to design and construct these massive, powerful warships.
• The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways' public sector shipyard, Cochin Shipyard Ltd. (CSL), designed it.
• The fourth and last set of sea trials for the ship had been successfully completed.

Operation Capabilities

• Its maximum design speed is 28 knots or 52 kilometres per hour, and its range is 7500 NM.
• The ship will be able to fly 30 aircraft, including the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), MH-60R Seahawk multi-role helicopters, Kamov-31 Air Early Warning Helicopters, MiG-29K fighter jets, and Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) (LCA).
• The IAC is outfitted with a ski-jump for launching aircraft and a pair of three "arrestor wires" for their recovery onboard, both of which are used in the new aircraft-operation mode known as Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR).

Significance:

• It will improve a Navy's ability to conduct air dominance operations far from home shores.
• It is regarded as a "blue water" navy or a fleet that can convey a country's strength and power across the high seas.

Significance of Vikrant Building in India

• Only five or six countries are now capable of producing an aircraft carrier, and India has now entered this exclusive group.
• According to experts, India has proven it has the capability and independence to construct one of the most sophisticated and complex battleships in the world.
• India has previously owned aircraft carriers, however, those were either British or Russian construction. As of right now, the Navy's only aircraft carrier, the 'INS Vikramaditya,' was once known as the Soviet-Russian cruiser 'Admiral Gorshkov.' It was commissioned in 2013.
• The HMS Hercules and HMS Hermes, two British-built carriers, were initially known as India's first two carriers, the "INS Vikrant" and the "INS Viraat." The Navy commissioned these two warships in 1961 and 1987, respectively

Why will the new warship IAC-1 be named ‘INS Vikrant’?

• The name "INS Vikrant" formerly belonged to India's beloved first aircraft carrier, which served for many years before being decommissioned in 1997 and was a great source of national pride.
• The first "Vikrant," a 19,500-ton battleship of the Majestic class that India purchased from the UK in 1961, distinguished itself during the conflict with Pakistan.
• The Navy praised the "proud and historic day for India as the reincarnated "Vikrant" sails for her maiden sea trials" as the IAC-1 began her first sea testing last year.
• The Navy has been requesting permission to construct a third aircraft carrier for the nation since 2015, and if granted, it will become India's second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-2).
• This projected carrier, dubbed "INS Vishal," is envisioned as a massive 65,000-ton ship that will be far larger than both IAC-1 and "INS Vikramaditya."

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