ks_sachin wrote:Admiral,
I thought that after simulator training part of the marine pilot curriculum was to actually do carrier landings. OR are you saying that completing simulator training allows you to be completely carrier ops qualified?
In India, naval aviators graduate from BTA (basic trainer aircraft) to HJT-16 Kiran IJT (Intermediate Jet Trainer) and then to the BAe Hawk Mk 132 AJT (Advanced Jet Trainer). This is all done from a land air base i.e. Dabolim, Goa and others. From there, they transition to a MiG-29K simulator facility that is present at Dabolim. Once that is completed, the pilots then transition to the twin seater MiG-29KUB and likely use the SBTF (Shore Based Test Facility) at Dabolim, as it mimics the ski jump of INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant. After all this is done, the rookie pilots then move on to the actual aircraft carrier itself. But by the time the pilots conduct their first take off and landing from an aircraft carrier, they should be fully carrier qualified as the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) are set in stone. This is my understanding of how the training is conducted, but someone more informed can correct me if I am wrong.
Instructor pilots may likely accompany their student pilots for their first take off and landing from an aircraft carrier, but this will be to give the student pilot a real world experience. There should be little to no learning involved here, as the low serviceability of the MiG-29 fleet (the twin seater availability is worse than the single seater) does not provide much breathing room for student pilots. You either know how to take off and land from an aircraft carrier or you don't. Any deficiencies will crop up during the earlier training modules and a good instructor will catch on very quick to a rookie pilot's mistakes. These errors will be addressed right then and there, before it festers into a worse problem.
This training syllabus will change with the arrival of the new MRCBF (which is reportedly the Rafale M). So below is how the French Navy trains her naval aviators to operate the Rafale M. Expect something similar in the Indian Navy with the new MRCBF.
The French Navy uses US Navy assets (aircraft, ship and personnel) to train their carrier pilots and the training is identical to their USN counterparts. However after getting carrier qualified on US Navy aircraft carriers, French Naval aviators head back to France for training on a Rafale M simulator. They also use shored based (but not carrier capable) twin seater Rafale Bs as well. But these are more for cockpit/aircraft familiarization than anything else. Neither the French Navy (lack of a carrier capable, twin seater Rafale) or the US Navy (the twin seater F-18F is
NOT utilized) use their front line, naval fighters to train their pilots to conduct carrier take offs and landings. That is an un-necessary waste of money and puts lots of avoidable strain on the airframe. All USN and USMC pilots that operate the F-18SH, F-35B and F-35C train entirely on simulators. There is also no twin seater F-35 variant out there either.
This website gives a good outline of how the USN trains her naval aviators --->
https://duotechservices.com/training-na ... 45-goshawk. I would highly recommend you read this, as it will give you a good insight into what the Indian Navy will do.
With the new MRCBF (assuming it is Rafale M, although it won't change much with the F-18SH), expect something like this:-
HTT-40 BTA ---> HJT-36 IJT ---> Hawk Mk132 AJT ---> Simulator Training (cockpit familiarization + aircraft carrier simulation) and Rafale B (real world aircraft) = graduation into a fully qualified Rafale Marine pilot*
*There will be zero room for error here, as there is no twin seater, carrier capable, Rafale M available. There is no instructor sitting behind you to correct your mistakes. You have to master how to operate from an aircraft carrier. This will appear apprehensive to the reader, but for the pilot there should be no ambiguity. He/She will be fully prepared to take off and land from an aircraft carrier.
Apologies for the long reply, but hope this answers your question.