Context

The country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, which is currently undergoing aviation trials, will be fully operational by year-end.

About

About INS Vikrant

• INS Vikrant was commissioned into the Navy last September.
• Speed: The 262 m long and 62 m wide INS Vikrant is powered by four General Electric LM2500 engines, which give it a maximum speed of 28 Knots and an endurance of 7500 nautical miles.
• INS Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India.
• It has a large amount of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs.
• The carrier displaces about 45,000 tonnes, making it the largest warship in the Indian naval inventory.
• It is 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.
• INS Vikrant carries a mix of about 30 aircraft MIG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy).

Other important defence developments

• The indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-Navy) and Mig-29K carried out their maiden landings on the carrier earlier this month.
• MF-STAR [multi-functional digital active electronically scanned array radar] fitment will commence from May onwards and should take 3-4 months time.
• It was an accomplishment that the LCA-Navy landed on the INS Vikrant within six months of its commissioning.
• In January 2020, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had successfully demonstrated an arrested landing of LCA-Navy on INS Vikramaditya.
• The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under DRDO embarked on developing a Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF) with a weight of 26 tonnes and wing folding, based on the experience of the LCA-Navy.
  • The TEDBF project is expected to get approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security shortly, along with the AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) project for the development of a 5th generation fighter jet.
• Installation of the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) system and the MF-STAR radar are pending, as the carrier has to be taken into the dry-dock.
  • The LR-SAM is a joint development by DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and is manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).
  • MF-STAR is manufactured by IAI and is also in service on other frontline warships on the Indian Navy.