India's first locally built aircraft carrier begins sea trials

India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier, the future INS Vikrant, left the country's southwestern port of Kochi on 4 August to embark on its maiden sea trials.

The Indian government's Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a statement that some of the main systems of the 262.5 m-long vessel, including its propulsion plants as well as navigation and communication systems, will be “put to rigorous testing at sea” during this first round of trials.

The Indian Navy's future aircraft carrier, Vikrant , left the southwestern port of Kochi on 4 August to embark on its maiden sea trials. (Indian Navy )

Also referred to as the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC)‐1, Vikrant, which was first launched by Cochin Shipyard Limited in August 2013 and completed harbour and basin trials in December 2020, is at least six years behind schedule.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in New Delhi announced on 25 June that the carrier is expected to enter service with the Indian Navy (IN) in the first half of 2022. However, the ship, which has an overall beam of 62 m and a standard displacement of 40,000 tonnes, is expected to be commissioned without its Aviation Facility Complex (AFC), which will be provided by Russia's Nevskoe Design Bureau (NDB) at a later stage to support a 40-odd complement of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Vikrant is set to operate MiG-29K fighter aircraft, Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopters, MH-60R multirole helicopters, as well as locally developed Advanced Light Helicopters, according to the MoD.

The carrierhas a top speed of about 28 kt and a cruising speed of 18 kt with a standard range of about 7,500 n miles, according to the PIB.

Just as INS Vikramaditya