Kochi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning commissioned the first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant in a ceremony at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi.

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, Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India.

The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is named after her illustrious predecessor, India's first aircraft carrier, which had played a vital role in the 1971 war.

It has a large amount of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs. With the commissioning of Vikrant, India will have two operational aircraft carriers, which will bolster the maritime security of the nation.

#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi commissions indigenous Aircraft Carrier IAC Vikrant, the largest & most complex warship ever built in India's maritime history, into the Indian Navy at a ceremony in Kochi, Kerala. #INSVikrant pic.twitter.com/8oiQN2AnMg

— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2022

As per the Indian Navy, the 262-meter-long carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes which is much larger and more advanced than her predecessor.

With Vikrant, India has joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier.

INS Vikrant consist of 14 decks with 2,300 compartments which can carry around 1,500 sea warriors and to cater to the food requirements, around 10,000 chapatis or rotis are made in the ship's kitchen, which is called the ship's galley.

INS Vikrant

The ship is powered by four Gas Turbines totalling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 Knots. Built at an overall cost of close to Rs 20,000 crores, the project has been progressed in three Phases of the contract between MoD and CSL, concluded in May 2007, December 2014 and October 2019 respectively.

The ship's keel was laid in Feb 2009, followed by launching in August 2013.

The ship would be capable of operating an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft comprising of MIG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy).

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Using a novel aircraft-operation mode known as STOBAR (Short Take-Off but Arrested Landing), it is equipped with a ski- jump for launching aircraft, and a set of 'arrester wires' for their recovery onboard.