INS Vikrant, India's First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, To Be Handed Over To Indian Navy In May

The INS Vikrant, India's first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), will be handed over to the Indian Navy in May, reports The New Indian Express.

The aircraft carrier, which has been constructed by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), will be named "INS Vikrant" after it is handed over to the Indian Navy.

Bejoy Bhasker, director (technical), CSL, during a press conference held on Thursday (28 April) in Kerala's Kochi, announced that the final sea trial of the aircraft carrier would be conducted in the next few weeks.

He added that the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) will be commissioned on Independence Day on 15 August 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," Bhasker was quoted in the TNIE report as saying.

The official further said that a new aircraft carrier of IAC specifications can by built by the shipyard in just five years.

"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," Bejoy was quoted in the report as saying.

The IAC uses ski-jump technology for launching the aircraft from the carrier.

He asserted that the shipyard can also make aircraft carriers that use the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) deployed in the US Navy's aircraft carriers.

"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," he added.