What is INS Vikrant?

About INS Vikrant:

• It is India’s first indigenously designed and manufactured aircraft carrier.
• The ship has been designed in-house by Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and constructed by M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited.
• It will strengthen the country’s standing as a ‘Blue Water Navy’ — a maritime force with global reach and capability to operate over deep seas.
• With it, India also joins the elite group of nations – the US, Russia, France, the UK and China – who are capable of designing and constructing aircraft carriers. 
• Features:
  • Dimension: It has an approximate length of 262 meters (860 feet) and a breadth of 62 meters (203 feet).
  • Displacement: Its full-load displacement is 43,000 tonnes.
  • Propulsion: It is powered by four gas turbine engines.
  • Speed: It has a top speed of 52 km/h (32 mph).
  • Endurance:  8,600 miles (13,890 kilometres)
  • Aircraft capacity: It can accommodate up to 30 fixed-wing aircraft, including fighter jets, and rotary-wing aircraft, such as anti-submarine warfare helicopters and utility helicopters.

Historical facts about INS Vikrant:

• INS Vikrant, with pennant number R11, was the first-ever aircraft carrier that was operated by the Indian Navy.
• The ship was officially laid down in 1943 and was being built for the Royal Navy as HMS (Her Majesty’s Ship) Hercules when the constitution was put on hold after World War II ended.
• Like many other ships at the time, the under-construction HMS Hercules was put up for sale by the United Kingdom and was purchased by India in 1957.
• The construction work was completed and the ship was commissioned in the Indian Navy as INS Vikrant in 1961.
• The plan for building an indigenous aircraft carrier started taking shape as the old INS Vikrant neared its decommissioning in the late 1990s.