The Indian Navy will receive India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), INS Vikrant, from the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) next month. CSL Director (Technical) Bejoy Bhasker announced this at a press conference held here on Thursday to commemorate the Shipyard’s 50th anniversary.
IAC will be out for the last sea trial in the coming weeks
The last sea trial was supposed to take place this month, but it got pushed back. The IAC will be handed over to the Indian Navy next month, and the ship will be renamed INS Vikrant. “On Independence Day in August this year, India’s first aircraft carrier will be commissioned,” he stated. According to CSL officials, the shipyard can build a new aircraft carrier to IAC standards in five years. According to them, 60% of IAC’s components are created in the United States, while the remaining 40% are imported.
The IAC project provided us with valuable experience. If the Indian Navy wants us to build another 45,000-ton aircraft carrier like the INS Vikrant, we can do it in five years.
The aircraft are launched from the carrier using ski-jump technology
We can also create aircraft carriers that use the Electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), which the US Navy has accepted.
Similarly, we’re boosting the capacity of our dry dock here, and we can now build a 70,000-tonne aircraft carrier. “We can build jack-up rigs and LNG boats here as well,” Bejoy added.
A contract for eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts has been awarded to CSL. The New Generation Missile Vessel (NGMV) project has been awarded to CSL as the lowest bidder. Similarly, CSL will transfer over the Kochi Water Metro’s last four ferries in May or June of this year. A few months ago, the first watercraft was handed over to authorities.
