With an overall indigenous content of 76 per cent, the aircraft carrier is a perfect example of the quest for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and provides a thrust to the government’s Make in India initiative, the Navy said…reports Asian Lite News
Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi, on Thursday handed over the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) to the Indian Navy, which will soon be inducting the vessel to enhance its maritime security.
Designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built by CSL, a public sector shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping (MoS), the aircraft carrier is named after India’s first aircraft carrier, the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vikrant, which played an important role in 1971.
The 262-metre-long carrier has a full displacement of about 45,000 tonne which is much larger and more advanced than its predecessor.
The aircraft carrier is powered by four gas turbines with a total power of 88 MW and has a maximum speed of 28 knots. Manufactured at a cost of about Rs 20,000 crore under a contract between the Ministry of Defence and CSL, the project has been carried forward in three phases, ending in May 2007, December 2014 and October 2019 respectively. The ship’s keel was laid in February 2009, followed by a launch in August 2013.
With an overall indigenous content of 76 per cent, the IAC is a perfect example of the country’s quest for “Self-reliant India”, the Navy said.
With the delivery of the INS Vikrant, India has joined a select group of countries that have the capability to indigenously design and build aircraft carriers.
The INS Vikrant has been built with a high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability, and has been designed to accommodate an assortment of fixed wing and rotary aircraft.
The ship will be capable of operating an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft comprising indigenously built Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) besides MIG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters.
Using a novel aircraft-operation mode known as STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrest Landing), the IAC is equipped with ski-jumps to launch aircraft and a series of ‘arrest wires’ for their recovery onboard.
The ship has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery, which includes major industrial houses of the country.
Indigenisation efforts by BEL, BHEL, GRSE, Keltron, Kirloskar, Larsen & Toubro, Wartsila India, along with more than 100 MSMEs, have led to the creation of employment opportunities at local as well as pan-India level, apart from the development of ancillary industries.
Several design iterations, including the use of 3D virtual reality models and advanced engineering software, were used by the Naval Design Directorate in shaping the design of the carrier.
CSL had upgraded its shipbuilding infrastructure as well as productivity skills during the construction of the ship.
The delivery of Vikrant was marked by the signing of acceptance documents on behalf of Navy by Vikrant’s Designated Commanding Officer, representatives of Naval Headquarters and Warship Surveillance Team (Kochi), and Chairman and Managing Director on behalf of Cochin Shipyard Limited.
Vikrant has been delivered to the Indian Navy by CSL after extensive user-acceptance trials conducted between August 2021 and July 2022, during which the ship’s performance, including rudder, main propulsion, accessories, aviation facilities, weapons and sensors, along with marine maintenance and the manoeuver ability were proved to be satisfactory as per the test protocol and system parameters.
Vikrant has been built with a high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability, and has been designed to accommodate an assortment of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The ship would be capable of operating an 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 and light combat aircraft. Using a novel aircraft-operation mode known as STOBAR (Short Take-Off but Arrested Landing), the aircraft carrier is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft, and a set of “arrester wires” for their recovery onboard.
The aircraft carrier has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery from major industrial houses in the country such as BEL, BHEL, GRSE, Keltron, Kirloskar, Larsen & Toubro, Wartsila India etc as well as over 100 micro, small and medium enterprises. The indigenisation efforts has also led to the development of ancillary industries besides the generation of employment opportunities and bolstering of plough-back effect on the economy, both locally and nationally.
A major spin-off of this is the production of indigenous warship-grade steel through a partnership between the Navy, DRDO and the Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which has enabled the country to become self-sufficient with respect to warship steel. Today all the warships being built in the country are being manufactured using indigenous steel, defence officials said.
The delivery of Vikrant was marked by the signing of acceptance documents on behalf of the Navy by the commanding officer-designate of Vikrant, representatives of the naval headquarters and the warship overseeing team (Kochi) and the chairman and managing director on behalf of the Cochin Shipyard.
The aircraft carrier was delivered to the Navy following extensive user-acceptance trials between August 2021 and July 2022, during which performance of its hull, main propulsion, auxiliary equipment, aviation facilities, weapon and sensors as well as its sea-keeping and manoeuvring capabilities were proved to be satisfactory. The delivery is the culmination of a long design, build and trials phase, during which both the Navy and the shipyard had to overcome a multitude of unprecedented technical and logistic challenges, including the Covid pandemic and the changed geopolitical scenario.