In a major boost to the defence of the country, the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) will hand over India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), ‘INS Vikrant’ to the Indian Navy in May. The big development was announced by CSL Director (Technical) Bejoy Bhasker here on Thursday in a press conference held to announce the Shipyard’s 50th anniversary.
According to Bejoy, IAC will be out for the final sea trial in the next few weeks. IAC will be commissioned on Independence Day, this year.
“The final sea trial was scheduled for this month but faced a slight delay. We will hand over the IAC to Indian Navy next month after which the ship will take the name of INS Vikrant. India’s first aircraft carrier will be commissioned on Independence Day in August this year,” he said.
“We have gained experience in the IAC project. If the Indian Navy asks us to bring out another aircraft carrier of 45,000-ton category like INS Vikrant, we can do it in five years. IAC uses ski-jump technology for launching the aircraft from the carrier. We can also make aircraft carriers that use the Electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) adopted in aircraft carriers of the US Navy. Similarly, we are expanding the capacity of our dry dock here and we can make an aircraft carrier of up to 70,000 tonnes now. We can also manufacture Jack-up rigs and LNG vessels here,” Bejoy said.
The battleship was built at a cost of roughly Rs 23,000 crore, propelling India into a small group of countries with the capability to develop cutting-edge aircraft carriers. It will use MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 helicopters, and MH-60R multi-role helicopters. It features about 2,300 compartments, with specialised quarters for female officers, and is meant for a crew of around 1700 people.
CSL is expecting to complete the work for the International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF) at Wellington Island in Kochi by 2023. Major ships would be repaired at ISRF.
