NS Vikrant, the Navy said, displaces about 45,000 tonnes, making it the largest warship in the Indian naval inventory.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the first made-in-India aircraft carrier – INS Vikrant – calling it a “historic occassion” and an “exceptional symbol of self-reliant India”. Built at a cost of ₹20,000 crore, the Prime Minister commissioned the carrier at a function organised at the Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, Kerala.
INS Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India. It has a large amount of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs. The carrier displaces about 45,000 tonnes, making it the largest warship in the Indian naval inventory.
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| INS Vikrant Largest Warship Indian Naval Inventory Details |
The ship, built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, has a flying deck that is 262 metres in length and 62.4 meters wide and can make up for two football fields. It has been built using indigenous equipment and machinery supplied by India's major industrial houses as well as over 100 MSMEs.
‘Vikrant’ got its name from the illustrious predecessor, India's first aircraft carrier, which had played a vital role in the 1971 war. It is designed by the Indian Navy's in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
The new INS Vikrant is 262-meter-long, as against its predecessor which was 192-meter-long. The new ship displaces approximately 43,000 tonnes when fully loaded, as against the former Vikrant which had a full load displacement of 20,000 tonnes.
The newly commissioned INS Vikrant has a maximum designed speed of 28 knots with endurance of 7500 nautical miles.
WHEN WILL INS VIKRANT BECOME COMBAT-READY?
It might take another 5-6 months for INS Vikrant to be combat-ready with fighter jets carrying out flying sorties and the warship equipped with surface-to-air Barack missiles. The flying trials are likely to start by November and should end by May 2023.
With the commissioning of INS Vikrant, the Indian Navy will have two aircraft carriers operational simultaneously -- the second one being INS Vikramaditya. This would solve the Navy's problem of continuing its naval operations even as the other ship goes in for maintenance.
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