In news– The Vice President of India visited India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant in Kochi recently.
About INS Vikrant-
- It is the 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier, the largest and most complex warship built in India.
- It is the first aircraft carrier to be built in India.
- It is 262 meters long, 62 meters wide and it has a height of 59 meters.
- Its construction began in 2009 and the warship has been built by Cochin Shipyard Limited(CSL).
- It has over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1,700 people, including specialized cabins to accommodate women officers.
- Vikrant has a top speed of around 28 knots and a cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles.
- It can operate MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 helicopters, and MH-60R multi-role helicopters.
- The ship, with a high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability, has been designed to accommodate an assortment of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.
- It is named ‘Vikrant’ as a tribute to India’s first aircraft carrier, Vikrant (R11).
- It is scheduled to be commissioned into the Indian Navy in August 2022.
Indian Navy Ship Vikrant (R11) was a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. The ship was laid down as HMS Hercules for the British Royal Navy during World War II, but was put on hold when the war ended. India purchased the incomplete carrier in 1957, and construction was completed in 1961. Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. It was decommissioned in January 1997 and was preserved as a museum ship in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai until 2012. The ship was scrapped in November 2014 after final clearance from the Supreme Court.
- India currently has only one aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (It is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier and the flagship of the Indian Navy, which entered into service in 2013).
Source: PIB
