New Delhi: Two Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter aircrafts have arrived in India to showcase their operational capability at a naval facility in Goa as the Indian Navy plans to acquire a fleet of combat jets for its indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant, people familiar with the development said. The demonstration by the aircrafts will start this week at the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa, the naval air station in Goa, they said.
The flight trials are expected to last for over a week, they said, adding the two jets arrived in India on May 20. In January, the Indian Navy carried out flight trials of the Rafale maritime fighter aircraft.
ALSO READ | Delhi Likely To Receive Another Spell Of Rain, Thunderstorm On Monday Night, Says IMD
The Indian Navy plans to procure a batch of fighter jets for IAC Vikrant that is likely to be commissioned in August.
Over four years ago, the Indian Navy had initiated the process to acquire 57 multi-role combat aircraft for its aircraft carrier.
Four planes were in contention for the deal which included Rafale (Dassault, France), F-18 Super Hornet (Boeing, US), MIG-29K (Russia) and Gripen (Saab, Sweden).
At present, the Indian Navy operates Russian-origin MiG-29K fighters from its sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
ALSO READ | Shocking! Newborn Found Alive At Graveyard In J-K's Banihal After Being Declared Dead
The Request For Information issued by the Navy for procurement of the deck-based fighter jets sought to know at what level of Transfer of Technology (ToT) the companies are willing to share with India.