1. PM Modi commissions INS Vikrant, India’s indigenous aircraft carrier
Tags: Defence
Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in Kochi on 2 September.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- The aircraft carrier has been built at the Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi at a cost of ₹20,000 crore.
With its commissioning, India has joined a select group (US, Russia, France, the UK and China) of countries that have the unique capability to indigenously design and build aircraft carriers.
The aircraft carrier is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.
The Prime Minister unveiled a plaque to commemorate the induction of INS Vikrant, named after its predecessor, which played a key role in the Navy in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
He also unveiled the new Naval Flag (Nishaan) on the occasion.
INS Vikrant :
INS Vikrant, also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1.
It has been designed by the Indian Navy's in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited.
It is the first aircraft carrier to be built in India.
It has been named 'Vikrant' as a tribute to India's first aircraft carrier, Vikrant.
The Indian Naval Ship Vikrant played an important role in the 1971 war.
The 262-metre-long carrier has a full displacement of around 45,000 tonnes which is more advanced than its predecessor.
It is powered by four gas turbines with a total power of 88 MW and has a maximum speed of 28 knots.
The project was executed in three phases of contract between the Ministry of Defence and CSL, which were concluded in May 2007, December 2014 and October 2019 respectively.
