Navy to get first indigenous aircraft carrier in August

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, July 10

The first indigenously built aircraft carrier — Vikrant — is set to be commissioned next month, the Indian Navy said on Sunday. The fourth and the last phase of sea trials for the Vikrant were successfully completed today. The warship conducted integrated trials of equipment and systems onboard, including some of the aviation facilities on the deck.

The first trial was successfully completed in August last year, followed by the second and third phase in October 2021 and January 2022, respectively.

Largest and most complex warship

• The IAC Vikrant is the largest and most complex warship ever to be designed and built in India
• The 44,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) has been made at the state-owned Cochin Shipyard in Kochi
• With this, India joins a select group of nations having niche capability to indigenously design, build and integrate a state-of-the-art aircraft carrier
• The US, the UK, Russia, Italy, France, Japan and China have such capacities

The warship’s endurance testing of propulsion machinery, electrical and electronic warfare suites, deck machinery, life-saving appliances, navigation and communication systems have been tried out at the sea.

The fighter jets that will operate from the deck of the carrier are to be tested using the Russian MiG-29K jets after the warship is handed over to the Navy.

The 44,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) has been made at the state-owned Cochin Shipyard in Kochi, Kerala.

It is being commissioned in the backdrop of India-China race off to expand their naval strength. China has two operational aircraft carriers — the Liaoning and the Shandong. Last month, it launched another one called the Fujian that would take around three years for commissioning.

A US Department of Defence report — ‘Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2021’ warns that “China continues to build a multi-carrier force.” The plans are for six carriers by 2030.

India has one operational carrier — INS Vikramaditya — purchased from Russia and the upcoming Vikrant. The plan for the third carrier is, so far, not approved by the Government. Besides India and China, Japan and South Korea are adding carriers to their fleets as the Asian countries race to project power at sea. The Japanese have the JS Izumo — a 248-metre-long warship which can fly fighter jets. It’s adding another one — the JS Kaga. South Korea has a plan to launch by 2030 a large-deck amphibious warfare ship that could handle fighter aircraft from its deck.