Indigenous Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant: Key Facts

The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is set to be commissioned into service by end of 2021 or early 2022. The project is significant in light of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative as 75% of its materials and onboard equipment are indigenously developed. The carrier is in the final stages of its construction at Cochin Shipyard Ltd. The basin trials, which is the testing of the machinery and equipment in floating conditions, were successfully carried out recently. This is to be followed by sea trials in early 2021.

INS Vikrant

It is also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier One. It is under construction at the Cochin Shipyard, Kerala for the Indian Navy.

What is the motto of INS Vikrant?

The motto of INS Vikrant is “Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah”. It was taken from Rig Veda. It means ” I defeat those who fight against me”.

What is the project cost of INS Vikrant?

The project cost of INS Vikrant was escalated to 3.5 billion USD in 2014. In 2019 an additional 420 million USD was authorised for a phase 3 of the project.

About INS Vikrant

It works on Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery Mechanism (STOBAR). This mechanism is very much similar to mechanism in the present carrier INS Vikramaditya. INS Vikrant is powered by 4 General Electric gas turbines.

INS Vishal

It is also called Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Two. It is a proposed aircraft carrier that is to be built in Cochin Shipyard Limited. It is to be built on CATOBAR (Catapult based Aircraft Launch Mechanism). This is similar to that of the US Electro Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS)

STOBAR

STOBAR combines elements of vertical landing and short take off. It is a system used to launch and recover an aircraft from an aircraft carrier. These systems are simpler to build as compared to that of CATOBAR. Also, it is less expensive. The major limitation of STOBAR is that it works only with fighter aircrafts that have high thrust to weight ratio. Some of fighter jets with high thrust to weight ratio are MiG-29K and Su-33.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2020