INS Vikrant, First Indigenous-Built AirCraft Carrier to Be Delivered to Indian Navy in 2021: Admiral Sunil Lanba

INS Vikrant, India’s first indigenous-built aircraft carrier will be delivered to the Indian Navy in 2021. Indian Naval Chief Admiral Lanba on Saturday said that INS Vikrant is undergoing outfitting at Kochi Shipyard Limited. He further added that harbour acceptance trials are in progress and sea acceptance trial of this will commence in the latter half of this year. Indian Navy Ships – INS Kolkata, INS Shakti to Participate in Chinese International Fleet Review on April 23.

The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report which was made public in July last year had raised questions on the commissioning of the INS Vikrant in 2021. Work on the ship’s design began in 1999, and the keel was laid in February 2009. The aircraft carrier was floated out of its dry dock on December 29, 2011, and was launched on August 12, 2013.

With the induction of the INS Vikrant, the strength of the Indian Navy will increase by manifolds. Currently, the Navy has only one aircraft carrier – INS Vikramaditya. The commissioning of the INS Vikrant will bring the India Navy at par with People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N) of China. Indian Navy’s Virtual Reality Centre For Designing Warships Inaugurated by Admiral Sunil Lanba.

India’s first aircraft carrier was also called INS Vikrant which was decommissioned in 1997 after serving for over three decades. Meanwhile, Admiral Lanba on Saturday launched a guided missile destroyer INS Imphal at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai. The INS Imphal is the third ship of Project 15B. The ship has been designed indigenously by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design (DND). The project 15b class ships 163 metres in length and 17.4 metres at beam and displaces 7,300 tonnes and are propelled four gas turbines with a maximum speed of 30 knots.