India's first home-made aircraft carrier marks naval milestone
As India prepares to commission its first domestically-built aircraft carrier, its construction marks a milestone which will put the country among the ranks of few, said India's Southern Naval Command Chief, Vice Admiral M.A. Hampiholi.
The Indigenous Navy Ship INS Vikrant will be brought into service on September 2, over two decades after work on its design began.
"Vikrant is indeed historic for it gives us the ability as a country to join a few select nations who are able to design and construct aircraft carriers," said Hampiholi on the deck of the 262 metres-long ship.
It is the largest ever ship built in India, weighing 45,000 tonnes and able to hold 1,500 personnel.
"The amount of steel that has been used in the ship is enough to perhaps make four Eiffel towers," said Hampiholi.
He added that the ship’s cabling is around 2,400km long - roughly the distance from Kochi to Delhi.
Once commissioned the carrier will carry out a variety of roles including providing humanitarian aid and assisting in disaster relief operations as well as its military capacities.
The warship is expected to carry at least 30 aircraft on it, including the MiG-29k that currently operates on Russian-made INS Vikramaditya.
INS Vikrant reportedly has a strike range of 1,500 km and is also equipped with 64 Indo-Israeli surface-to-air missiles, Barak-8 along with four OTO Melara 76 mm naval guns and four AK 630 point defence system guns.
