Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India`s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi on Friday at 9:30 am. INS Vikrant is built with state-of-the-art automation features. It is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India. It has been designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is named after her predecessor, India`s first aircraft carrier, which had played a vital role in the 1971 war. It has a large amount of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs. Vikrant, India will now have two operational aircraft carriers that will immensely help the maritime security of the nation. As per the Indian Navy, the 262-meter-long carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes which is much larger and more advanced than her predecessor.
India with Vikrant has joined a select group of nations having the best capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier. IAC Vikrant consist of 14 decks with 2,300 compartments which can carry around 1,500 sea warriors and to cater to the food requirements, around 10,000 chapatis or rotis are made in the ship’s kitchen, which is called the ship’s galley.
