INS Vikrant

INS Vikrant is India’s first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier.
It is also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier One (IAC-1).
It is being constructed by Cochin Shipyard, Kerala for the Indian Navy.
It has an overall indigenous content of 76%.
The motto of INS Vikrant is “Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah”, meaning “I defeat those who fight against me”, taken from It was taken from Rig Veda.
It works on the Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery Mechanism (STOBAR).
- This mechanism is very much similar to the mechanism in the present carrier INS Vikramaditya.
It will be carrying:
- the Russian-made MiG-29K fighter jet,
- Kamov-31 early warning helicopters,
- the indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters and
- the MH-60R multirole helicopter was made by the American defence major Lockheed Martin.

Significance

It will mark a “historical milestone of realisation of Nation’s commitment towards AatmaNirbharta” (self-reliance).
The project represents Indian unity as the aircraft carrier has been manufactured in 18 states and union territories.
This is the first time in the country that a ship of the size of an aircraft carrier is completely modelled in 3D and production drawings extracted from the 3D model.
With the construction of ‘Vikrant’, India joins a select group of countries such as the US, UK, Russia, China and France that have the unparalleled capability to design and manufacture aircraft carriers indigenously.

INS Vikrant was India’s first aircraft carrier, which it acquired from the United Kingdom in 1961.
It played a key role in the 1971 war with Pakistan which led to the creation of Bangladesh.
It was decommissioned in 1997.
Now, India’s first homemade aircraft carrier will carry the name of her illustrious predecessor.

This warship is 262 meters in length, exceeding that of two football fields, 62 meters wide and its height is 59 meters.
Its construction started in 2009.
INS Vikrant has over 2,200 coaches, designed for a crew of about 1,600 people, including special cabins to accommodate women officers.
Vikrant has a cruising speed of 18 knots, a top speed of about 28 knots (more than 50 kmph) and an endurance of about 7,500 knots.
INS Vikrant is powered by 4 General Electric gas turbines.
The project cost of INS Vikrant escalated to 3.5 billion USD in 2014. In 2019 an additional 420 million USD was authorised for phase 3 of the project.

The Indian Navy has only one operational aircraft carrier at present – the INS Vikramaditya.
The country’s two earlier carriers, INS Vikrant and INS Viraat, were originally the British-built HMS Hercules and HMS Hermes before being commissioned into the Navy in 1961 and 1987 respectively.

02 September 2022: Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India’s first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.