Aircraft Carrier 'Vikrant' Handed Over to Indian Navy

The Indian Navy has taken delivery of its first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) ‘Vikrant’ from its builder, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi.

Delivery of Vikrant was marked by signing of acceptance documents on behalf of Indian Navy by the Commanding Officer Designate of Vikrant, representatives of Naval Headquarters and Warship Overseeing Team (Kochi) and by the Chairman and Managing Director on behalf of Cochin Shipyard Ltd., in the presence of Senior officers of Indian Navy and Cochin Shipyard.

The carrier is designed by the Indian Navy's inhouse Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built by CSL, a Public Sector Shipyard under Ministry of Shipping (MoS), the carrier is christened after its predecessor. The carrier has an overall indigenous content of 76%.

Vikrant has been delivered to the Indian Navy by CSL following extensive user acceptance trials conducted between Aug 2021 and Jul 2022, during which ship's performance, including hull, main propulsion, PGD, auxiliary equipment, aviation facilities, weapon & sensors as well as sea keeping & manoeuvring capabilities were proved satisfactory in accordance with trial protocols and system parameters.

The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier would soon be commissioned into the Indian Navy as Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vikrant.

The 262m long carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tons which is much larger and advanced than its predecessor which bears the same name. The ship is powered by four Gas Turbines totaling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 Knots. Built at an overall cost of close to INR 20,000 Crore ($ 2.5 billion), the project has been progressed in three Phases of contract between MoD and CSL, concluded in May 2007, Dec 2014 and Oct 2019 respectively. The ship's keel was laid in Feb 2009, followed by launching in Aug 2013.