Kochi: India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, a floating airfield equipped with its own battle group, was inducted into the Indian Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, marking the culmination of a 13-year-long journey. does.
With a displacement of 42,800 tonnes, the Vikrant – meaning ‘victorious’ and ‘valor’ – is the largest ship ever designed and built by India, making it the sixth country to demonstrate the capability to build its own aircraft carrier. does.
Although the design work began in 1999, the keel or backbone of the ship, named after India’s erstwhile aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, was laid in 2009 and put into water by Cochin Shipyard Limited in 2013 with delivery to the Indian Navy in 2022. was given.
The erstwhile INS Vikrant, which was inducted into the Indian Navy in 1961, and saw action in both the 1961 Goa Liberation War and the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, was decommissioned in 1997.
Powered by four 22 MW gas turbine engines, the new INS Vikrant has a range of 7,500 nautical miles (approximately 13,900 km), which translates into a one-time voyage from India to Brazil without the need to stop for refueling.
Capable of carrying a component of 30 aircraft, fighter jets and helicopters combined, INS Vikrant – which is 262.5 meters long and 62.5 meters wide – has a top speed of 28 knots (approximately 52 kmph) and 18 knots (about 20 km/h). cruise speed of approx. 33 kmph).
Its STOBAR (Short Take-off and Arrest Landing) system will ensure that the MiG-29K aircraft can come to a halt in less than 90 meters and at a speed of 250 to 0 kmph in under two seconds.
Apart from fighter jets and helicopters and its own battle group operating with it, INS Vikrant 32 Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM), AK-630 Fully Automatic Naval Rotary Cannon Close-in Weapon System Equipped and stable. Remote Control Gun (SRCG).
The MRSAM, along with the MF-STAR radar, will be integrated at INS Vikrant next year, when it becomes fully operational.
Vikrant’s eyes and ears include RAN-40L 3D air surveillance radar, Shakti Electronic Warfare Suite developed by DRDO that will provide an electronic layer of defense against modern radars and anti-ship missiles, and Regisler-, among other systems and radars. E Aviation Complex. ,
For its self-defense, INS Vikrant also has Kavach Chaff (Anti-Missile) decoy system along with torpedo decoy system.
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floating city
Giving details about the actual size of the aircraft carrier, Navy officials said the height of the vessel is 61.6 meters (keel of pole mast) – as tall as 14 storeys – and the flight deck is about 12,500 square meters – roughly two and a half in size. Hockey fields or 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
He also pointed out that the entire cable used in the ship is 2,600 km long and the electricity generated by the ship can actually light up a small town.
INS Vikrant has approximately 2400/2200 spaces and compartments. It is so big that the total stretch of passage and lobby in the ship comes to about 11 km.
Below the flight deck are several cabins for both men and women, and corridors that go down 10 levels. The ship can carry a crew of over 1600 which will include both male and female officers and sailors who will be recruited under the Agniveer scheme.
With such a large crew on board, the ship has its own hospital, fitness center, kitchen, laundry, and a desalination and RO plant, separate from laundry and living quarters.
Navy officials said the kitchen has a capacity to cook 4,800 meals a day with three automatic galleys churning out an average of 16,000 chapatis and 6,000 idlis a day.
The medical complex, he said, is spread over three decks in 45 coaches and has a 16-bed ward. The medical team comprises five officers and 15 sailors and the setup includes a 64-slice CT scan centre, two operation theatres, a dental centre, X-ray and scanning facility besides a full-fledged laboratory, a physiotherapy department and facilities. for blood transfusion.
The ship’s sewage treatment plants are said to be so efficient that Navy officials say the treated water is fit for human consumption. In addition, its reverse osmosis plants produce over 4 lakh liters per day and its two laundries can cater to over 1,700 persons per day.
76% indigenous content
INS Vikrant is built with 76 per cent indigenous material including special steel, jointly developed by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
In addition to over 500 sub-contractors and ancillary industries, over 100 MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) and indigenous Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) were involved for manufacturing this aircraft carrier.
Apart from steel, the carrier’s combat management system, electronic warfare suite, data network, power distribution system and integrated platform management system were all indigenously built.
The Combat Management System was created by Tata Advanced Systems, the electronic warfare suite and data network by Bharat Electronics, Power Network by L&T and Integrated Platform Management System by Bharat Heavy Electricals.
(Edited by Amritansh Arora)