PM Modi to commission indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant on September 2
New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on September 2 commission at Kochi the 40,000 tonne indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, the largest warship to be built in India at a cost of Rs. 20,000 crore.
With this, the Indian Navy will have two aircraft carriers – the other being INS Vikramaditya – to guard the country’s 7,500 km coastline, strengthen the country’s position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and its quest for a Blue Water Navy.
The ship had embarked on its maiden sea voyage on August 8, 2021 – 50 years after its namesake played a major role in the 1971 war – and was handed over to the Indian Navy on July 28 after a series of trials.
Designed by Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design (DND), INS Vikrant was built at Cochin Shipyard Limited(CSL), a Public Sector Shipyard under Ministry of Shipping (MoS). It is a leading example of the nation’s quest for “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” and Indian Navy’s “Make in India” initiative, with more than 76 per cent indigenous content.
INS Vikrant is 262 m long, 62 m at the widest part and a height of 59 m including the superstructure. There are 14 decks in all, including five in the superstructure. The ship has over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1,700, with gender-sensitive accommodation spaces for women officers.
With a top speed of around 28 knots and a cruising speed of 18 knots, INS Vikrant has an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles.
The ship, with high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability, has been designed to accommodate an assortment of fixed wing and rotary aircraft – MiG-29K fighters, Kamov-31 helicopters, and the newly-acquired MH-60R multi-role helicopters.
Around 550 Indian firms including about 100 MSMEs had provided various services for the construction of INS Vikrant.
India has now joined a select group of nations with the capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier and provides a thrust to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
