India's first indigenously built aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant commissioned a the Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, Kerala.

By Apekshita Sonowal
INS
Vikrant R11, India’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier and largest warship
of India was commissioned yesterday at the Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi,
Kerala on September 2.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, calling it
a “historic event” and “an example of the Government’s thrust to making India’s
defence sector self-reliant.”
Other
than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammad Khan,
Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan. Union Ministers, Rajnath Singh, Sarbananda
Sonowal, V Muraleedharan, Ajay Bhat, National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, and Chief of Naval Staff R Hari Kumar graced the occasion.
The Prime Minister says “Vikrant is huge, massive, and vast. Vikrant is distinguished, Vikrant is also special. Vikrant is not just a warship. This is a testament to the hard work, talent, influence and commitment of India in the 21st century. If the goals are distant, the journeys are long, the ocean and the challenges are endless – then India's answer is Vikrant. The incomparable Amrit of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is Vikrant. Vikrant is a unique reflection of India becoming self-reliant.”
According
to PIB's official press release, INS Vikrant is designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house
Warship Design Bureau and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a Public Sector
Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & 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. Every bit of INS Vikrant is made
up of using indigenous equipment and machinery supplied by India's major
industrial houses as well as over 100 MSMEs.
According
to the Indian Navy, the INS Vikrant is 262-meter-long and 62 m wide and a height of 59 meters and has a full displacement of about 45,000 tonnes and is built at a cost of
20,000 crore.
Addressed
as the floating city by PM Modi, INS Vikrant has 18 floors and consists of 14 decks with
2,300 compartments that can carry a crew of up to 1700 including specialized cabins
for women officers and sailors and also cater to the food requirements, i.e.,
around 10,000 chapatis or rotis are made in the ship’s kitchen which is called
the ship’s galley. Made out of 26000 indigenous tonnes of steel, developed by
DRDO scientists and produced by Indian companies, the IAC Vikrant is capable of
constructing almost 4 Eiffel towers.
Apart
from these, the hangar where the aircraft will be kept is said to be big enough
to accommodate two Olympic pools. Furthermore, the aircraft will be capable of operating
an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft comprising 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). Using a novel
aircraft-operation mode known as Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR),
the IAC is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft, and a set of three
‘arrester wires’ for their recovery on board.
IAC
Vikrant has also a fully-fledged medical area with the latest medical equipment
facilities that include major modular OT, emergency modular OT, physiotherapy
clinic, ICU, laboratories, CT scanner, X-Ray machines, Dental complex,
Isolation ward, telemedicine facilities, etc.
PM
Modi also said that it produces electricity that is sufficient to power 5000
households and the wiring used will reach Kashi from Kochi.
The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier has been named after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first aircraft carrier which played a vital role in the 1971 war.
Source- PIB/ANI
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