Context

India’s first Indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-1), INS Vikrant, successfully completed the fourth and final phase of sea trials.

About INS Vikrant

• INS Vikrant was named after the warship that played a crucial role in the 1971 war.
• Designed by the Indian Navy's Directorate of Naval Design (DND), the carrier has been built at Cochin Shipyard Limited, a public sector shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping.

• It is a shining example in the nation’s quest for ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India Initiative,’ with more than 76 per cent indigenous content.”
• It is the largest and most complex warship ever to be designed and built in India.
• INS Vikrant will complement the INS Vikramaditya, currently the navy’s lone carrier, which was acquired from Russia in 2013. 
  
  
  

Capabilities

• It can project Air Power over long distances, including Air Interdiction, Anti-Surface Warfare, offensive and defensive Counter-Air, Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare and Airborne Early Warning.       

• It has a STOBAR (short take off but arrested recovery) system of aircraft launch and recovery on the flight deck.
• It is armed with the Barak LR-SAM (long range surface-to-air missile) air defence and AK-630 close-in weapon system besides a slew of advanced sensors and an electronic warfare suite.

Other specifications

• It is expected to have a top speed of 30 knots (approximately 55 kmph) and is propelled by four gas turbines.
• Its endurance is 7,500 nautical miles at 18 knots (32 kmph) speed.
• The vessel can carry up to 1,500 personnel and has 2,300 compartments.
• The ship shall operate MiG-29K fighter aircraft, Kamov-31 Air Early Warning Helicopters, the soon to be inducted MH-60R multi-role helicopter and the indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters.

Help in making

• Italian, Russian help: While the design was done with help from the Italian firm Fincantieri, the Russians collaborated in designing and developing the aviation complex.