The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier(IAC) ‘Vikrant’ completed its 5 day maiden sea trials in which the ship’s performance, including hull, main propulsion and auxiliary equipment was closely inspected, returned to Kochi on Sunday.

The trials which were reviewed by Vice Admiral AK Chawla Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command said,”The successful completion of maiden trial sorties, despite challenges faced due to the covid-19 pandemic and covid-19 protocols in place, is testimony to the dedicated efforts of large number of stakeholders for over a decade. This is a major milestone activity and historical event.”

The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier(IAC)1, which will be called Vikrant with the Indian Navy will join the Indian fleet by August next year, the Navy said that now India has now joined a select group of countries to have the “niche capability” to indigenously design, build and integrate a state-of-the-art aircraft carrier.

"We are going back to Kochi after five days of trials at sea. We're going back with a great sense of satisfaction. This has been possible with dedicated teamwork," Vice Admiral was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Reacting to this, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the maiden sea sortie of ‘Vikrant’ is a true testimony to India’s unwavering commitment to “Atmanirbharta” in a tweet.

Right now, India has only one aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya and was inducted from Russia at the cost of USD 2.33 billion in November 2013 and another USD 2 billion was spent on procuring 45 MiG-29Ks to operate from its deck.

Ever since 2014, the union government has always focussed on making India self-reliant in the defence sector, reducing dependency on imports in the long run and modernisation of the armed forces, INS Vikrant is just one massive step towards the centre’s 'Make in India' initiative.

The Government of India has enhanced FDI in defence sector up to 74% through the automatic route and up to 100% by Government route incentivising the flagship “Make in India” program.

INS Vikrant is the largest and most complex warship ever to be built and designed in India, with more than 76% indigenous content.

INS Vikrant has 14 decks, weighs 40,000 tonnes, is 262 metres long, 62 metres at the widest part and a height of 59 metre, and was built at a cost of around ₹23,000 crore. The warship has over over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1,700 people, will operate MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 helicopters, MH-60R multi-role helicopters and has a top speed of around 28 knots. 

With the delivery of IAC, India will strengthen its position in the Indian Ocean Region, to be known as a Blue Water Navy and will stop the growing presence of China in the Indian Ocean.