TSAMTO, August 10. On August 8, the Ministry of Defense of India announced the completion of the first sea trials of the P71 Vikrant aircraft carrier (IAC – 1-Indigenous Aircraft Carrier) designed by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built for the Indian Navy by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).
The ship sailed from the CSL enterprise in Kochi on August 4. As stated, the tests were carried out in accordance with the plan and ended with satisfactory results. In the near future, sea trials of the aircraft carrier will continue to check the installed equipment and systems before transferring the ship to the Indian Navy. During the first trip to the sea, the ship's characteristics were checked, as well as the main systems and components, including the hull, the main power plant, navigation and communication systems, as well as auxiliary equipment.
The project is the first attempt by the Indian Navy Command and Cochin Shipyard Limited to independently design and build an aircraft carrier. As stated, the" national content " in the design of the ship is 76%.
As reported by TSAMTO, the keel laying ceremony of the first national aircraft carrier was held at the Cochin Shipyard Limited enterprise in Kochi on February 28, 2009, the launch took place in August 2013. Currently, the construction of the ship is going on with a significant delay from the originally agreed schedule and with a large excess of cost.
The length of the aircraft carrier is 262 m, the maximum width is 62 m, the draft is 8.4 m, the total displacement is about 40,000 tons. It is equipped with a gas turbine power plant, including 4 General Electric LM 2500 turbines with a total capacity of 80 MW.
The maximum design speed is more than 28 knots. The cruising range will be about 7,500 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots. The ship's design provides for more than 2,300 compartments designed for a crew of about 1,700 people, including cabins for female officers. As planned, an air group consisting of 30-36 units will be based on board the Vikrant. aircraft, including MiG 29K fighters, Ka 31 helicopters, MH-60R multi-purpose helicopters, Dhruv light helicopters.
It is expected that the first "Indian" aircraft carrier will join the Indian Navy in the first half of 2022.
After the completion of the Vikrant, India will become the sixth country in the world (after the United States, Russia, Great Britain, China and France) that is able to independently build an aircraft carrier-class warship.