The Prime Minister said INS Vikrant is an example of the government’s thrust to making India’s defence sector self-reliant
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday commissioned India’s first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in Kochi, putting India into a select league of countries with domestic capability to build such large warships.
Commissioning the carrier, built at a cost of ₹ 20,000 crore, Modi dedicated it to Chhatrapathi Shivaji and said India has shed the colonial past. The warship has been built using indigenous equipment and machinery supplied by India’s major industrial houses as well as over 100 MSMEs.
“INS Vikrant is the pride of every Indian. If challenges are large, obstacles are many, then the answer is INS Vikrant," PM Modi said at the function organised at the Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi. “From the seashores of Kerala, every Indian is becoming a witness today to the sunrise of a new future. This ceremony on INS Vikrant is a call for the strengthening morale of India on a global horizon."
The Prime Minister said INS Vikrant is an example of the government’s thrust to making India’s defence sector self-reliant. “The commissioning of INS Vikrant is analogous to a new sunrise in New India. This aircraft carrier is testament to our strong resolve for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat."
With the commissioning of INS Vikrant, India will have two operational aircraft carriers, which will bolster the maritime security of the nation.
During the event, the Prime Minister also unveiled the new Naval Ensign (Nishaan), doing away with the colonial past. Naval Ensigns are flags that naval ships or formations bear to denote nationality. The current Indian Naval Ensign consists of a St. George’s Cross, a red cross with white background. In one corner of the cross, the Indian flag was put when the country attained freedom, replacing the Union Jack in that place.
Designed by the Warship Design Bureau (WDB), Indian Navy’s in-house organisation and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a public sector shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, the aircraft carrier is christened after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first aircraft carrier which played a vital role in the 1971 war.
Vikrant meaning victorious and gallant, the foundation for IAC was established in April 2005 by ceremonial steel cutting.
To push the indigenisation drive, the warship grade steel required for construction of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier or IAC was successfully indigenised through Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in collaboration with Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Indian Navy. The hull fabrication progressed thereafter and the ship’s keel was laid in February 2009.
The first phase of ship construction was completed with the successful launch of the ship in August 2013. The 262 m long and 62 m wide Vikrant displaces approximately 43000 T when fully loaded, having a maximum designed speed of 28 knots with endurance of 7500 NM.
The ship has around 2,200 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1,600 that include specialised cabins to accommodate women officers and sailors.
The carrier, designed with a very high degree of automation for machinery operations, ship navigation and survivability, is equipped with the latest state of the art equipment and systems.
The ship boasts of a full-fledged state-of-the-art medical complex with latest medical equipment facilities that includes major modular OT, emergency modular OT, physiotherapy clinic, ICU, laboratories, CT scanner, X-Ray machines, dental complex, isolation ward and telemedicine facilities, etc.
It would be capable of operating air wing consisting of 30 aircraft, comprising MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy).
Using a novel aircraft operation mode known as Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR), the IAC is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft, and a set of three ‘arrester wires’ for their recovery onboard.
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