With the commissioning of the indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has joined the elite league of nations having the capability of building such big carriers. The other countries are the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China.
The ship can sail non-stop to Brazil without refueling. Its flying deck is as big as two hockey fields or ten Olympic size swimming pools.
Manned by a crew of 1,600, the ship’s kitchen can churn out 16,000 chapatis and more than 5,000 idlis everyday. Moreover, its power plant can light up a medium size town.
INS Vikramaditya was till now India’s sole aircraft carrier. INS Vikrant will now enable the Indian Navy to protect the country’s interests in the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific region.
Plans are afoot to build a second indigenous aircraft carrier. INS Vikramaditya was built by Russia as per the Indian specifications. It joined service in 2014.
Meaning “victor” in Sanskrit, INS Vikrant can sail non-stop for more than 7,500 nautical miles (about 15,000 km). It means the ship can reach South America, including Brazil without refueling. Four 22 MW gas turbine engines power the ship.
Often called “city on the move” or “city afloat”, the aircraft carrier costing more than `20,000 crore and weighing 42,000 tons has more than 3,000 km of wiring done to enable its electrical and mechanical systems to function without a hitch.
As regards the height of the INS Vikrant, it is 59-metre tall or nearly 18-storey high and its power plant can provide electricity to a medium size town.
The flying deck from where the fighter jets take off and land is about 12,500 sq km. Separate living quarters are built for women officers.
Operated by a crew of 1,600 personnel, the aircraft carrier has nearly 2,200 compartments and the total stretch of passages and lobbies in the ship comes to about 11 km.
The living cabins are located underneath the flight deck and corridors go down ten
levels. The ship can carry a total of 30 aircraft, fighter jets and helicopters. The carrier has a top speed of 28 knots (approximately 52 kmph) and a cruise speed of 18 knots (approximately 32 kmph).
The aircraft include MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters and Light Combat Aircraft.
INS Vikrant is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft, and a set of three “arrester wires” for their recovery onboard.
The ship is equipped with 32 Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), the AK-630 fully automatic naval rotary cannon close-in weapon system and stabilized remote-controlled guns (SRCG). The carrier has the Kavach Chaff (anti-missile) decoy system, with Torpedo Decoy System.
The ship boasts of a fully-fledged state-of-the-art Medical Complex with a 16-bed ward with the latest medical equipment facilities including major modular OT, emergency modular OT, physiotherapy clinic, ICU, laboratories, CT scanner, X-Ray machines, Dental complex, Isolation ward and telemedicine facilities.
INS Vikrant has been built with 76 per cent indigenous content which includes specialized steel, jointly developed by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO
Over 100 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME)) and indigenous original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were involved in the construction of this aircraft carrier, apart from over 500 sub-contractors and ancillary industries.
In line with the prevailing practices being followed by other advanced countries having experience of building aircraft carrier, the deck integration trials of fixed-wing aircraft and exploitation of aviation facility complex will be carried out post commissioning of the ship when the operational command and control of the ship including flight safety is with the Navy.
The erstwhile INS Vikrant, which was commissioned 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.