How Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant Will boost India’s Naval Capacity: The Indian Navy has announced that India’s largest warship INS Vikrant is set to begin sea trials, making the way for its complete induction into the Navy in a year.
In a statement, the Navy said, “The trails phase has begun, as most of the construction works have been completed. In November 2020, as a part of basin trails, the readiness of the ship’s power generation equipment/systems and propulsion were tested in the harbor. ”
With the first indigenously-made aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, India joins the list of nations capable of building their own carriers that include the US, UK, Russia, China, and France.
In 1961, the original INS Vikrant was acquired from the UK, and from that time Indian Navy has one aircraft carrier. The UK-built warship’s shelf-life came to an end. Hence, India commissioned a UK-based shipbuilder, Vickers-Armstrong, for assembling a second carrier, INS Viraat, which was inducted into the Navy in the year 1987. Originally called HMS Hermes, the INS Viraat drastically increased the capabilities of the Indian Navy’s maritime force projection.
In the year 2003, the central government greenlit the design and construction of the made-in-India IAC-1 at Rs. 3,261 crore price. The Navy has stated that in the construction of this warship, over 50 Indian manufacturers had been roped in. Daily, around 2000 Indians got direct employment with this project.
Capabilities of INS Vikrant
INS Vikrant is 262 meters long, 62 meters wide, and 59 meters high. It consists of 14 decks totally, in those 5 are located in the superstructure. Having more than 2300 compartments, the ship can accommodate a crew of around 1700 sailors. To accommodate women officers, specialized cabins have also been made.
The 44,500-tonne warship can reach a maximum speed of 28 knots (52 Kmph) using twin propellers, each fuelled by two LM2500 gas turbines. In the four turbines, two are designed to operate as cruise turbines for regular operations, and the remaining two provide power for emergencies.
The aircraft carrier INS Vikrant will cruise around 18 knots (33 Kmph), under the normal operating conditions.
After the commissioning, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-1 will operate the Russian-made MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 helicopters, and Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk multi-role helicopters. For boosting the attacking capabilities of IAC-1 and IAC-2, the Navy is in the process of acquiring 57 more deck-based fighters.
The MIG-29K fighter jets have a short take-off position with 145 meters of runway length or a long take-off position of 206 meters. The short one is used in emergencies.
A Navy statement said that the ship will provide a matchless military instrument with its ability to protect Air Power over long distances, including Anti-Surface Warfare, Air Interdiction, offensive, and defensive Counter-Air, Airborne Early Warning and Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare.
