INS Vikrant Commissioning: 5 fascinating facts on India’s 1st indigenous aircraft carrier
The commission of IAC Vikrant will mark a significant step forward for India’s defense sector and will enhance the combat capability of the Indian Navy.
Heralding a new dawn for India’s Naval capabilities, the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant will be commissioned into the Navy as INS Vikrant on September 2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to officially induct the vessel to the Indian Navy at a specially arranged venue inside the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), which manufactured the warship worth over Rs 20,000 crore.
After the completion of its fourth and final phase of sea trials on July 10, the Indian Navy took the delivery of the carrier from CSL on July 28. The India-made aircraft carrier is also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1).
The commissioning of IAC Vikrant will mark a significant step forward for India’s defense sector and will enhance the combat capability of the Indian Navy. Here are five (of many) fascinating facts about India’s first indigenous Aircraft carrier:
IAC Vikrant has a total cabling length of 2,400 kms which equals the distance between Kochi and Delhi. Apart from this, the amount of steel used in the ship is reportedly equivalent to four times the steel used in the making of the Eiffel Tower.
Each of the MIG 29K aircraft stationed on IAC Vikrant weighs as much as about two fully-grown African elephants..
The aircraft carrier is capable of generating enough electricity to power a small town. It was further revealed that Vikrant can travel at a top speed of around 28 knots and a cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles.
It has over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1,700 sailors. The ship also includes specialised cabins to accommodate women officers.
IAC-1 is to be commissioned as INS Vikrant, in a nod to one of the two earlier aircraft carriers that India operated – one being INS Vikrant and the other being INS Viraat – both of which were acquired from the UK and commissioned in 1961 and 1987, respectively. INS Vikrant played a major role in eastern Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It was later decommissioned in 1997.
