At a ceremony in the southern state of Kerala, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi officilay commissioned India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant, its first aircraft carrier to be constructed domestically.
On 2nd September PM Narendra Modi commissioned the first indigenous aircraft carrier IAC Vikrant, the largest & most complex warship ever built in India’s maritime history, into the Indian Navy at a ceremony held in Kochi.
As well as the new Naval Ensign was unveiled by PM today, during the commissioning of INS Vikrant, the first indigenously built Indian Aircraft Carrier and thus, an apt day for heralding the change of ensign. INS Vikrant will adorn the new White ensign with effect from its commissioning.
The aircraft carrier id 262m (860ft) long and almost 60m (197ft) tall – is the first aircraft carrier India has designed and built on its own. It has the capacity to hold 30 fighter planes and helicopters.
It takes more than 13 years to complete the construction and trials of INS Vikrant aircraft carrier. The 45,000-tonne warship has been built at a cost of ₹ 20,000 crores.
The flying deck is around 12,500 sq m. Fun fact: According to the Indian Navy this means that the flight deck is roughly the size of 10 Olympic sized pools or two-and-a-half hockey fields.
The cabling on board is all made in India, and is 2,600 km long. In his address at the commissioning ceremony, PM Modi said that the power which is generated by the ship can light up a small town. The ship has a range of 15,000 km.
With three automated galleys around 16,000 chappatis are churned out as well as on a average 6,000 idlis and 4,800 meals can be prepared on a daily basis.
Warship grade steel has been used to build the carrier which was developed by the Indian Navy, DRDO and SAIL.
The indigenous content is 76 percent and this according to the Indian Navy includes 150 km of pipes, and 2,000 valves, 2,500 km of electric cables, almost 23,000 tonnes of steel.
At present, India has only one aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, which is built on a Russian platform. Defence forces have been seeking three carriers in all – one in spare besides one each for the two main naval fronts, in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.
Vikrant is equipped with Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) — a ski-jump for launching aircraft. And there is a set of three ‘arrester wires’. These are used for the recovery of the aircraft onboard.
The new ship will offer an “incomparable military instrument with its ability to project Air Power over long distances, including Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare and Airborne Early Warning, Air Interdiction, Anti-Surface Warfare, offensive and defensive Counter-Air”.
For long range air defence Vikrant is equipped with 32 cell VLS Barak 8 SAM (Range : 0.5 km (0.31 mi) to 1domestic 00 km and for close air defence support the vessel is equipped with Ak-630 CIWS.
Currently, the ship is not equipped with radar but soon in the coming days, it will be equipped with Israeli Elta EL/M-2248 MF-STAR AESA multifunction radar. For electronic warfare, ship is equipped with domestic Shakti EW suite. For air surveillance Vikrant is equipped with Selex RAN-40L 3D L-Band Air.