Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) said that the Vikrant aircraft carrier (INS Vikrant) built by it for the Indian Navy has sailed for its maiden sea trials.

The Kochi-based public sector shipbuilding company said that the propulsion plants of the Vikrant warship will be rigorously tested at the sea. Additionally, trials of various navigation, communication, and hull equipment will be undertaken.

Madhu S Nair — Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Limited said: “It is a red letter day for the Indian shipbuilding industry. Significant capabilities have been developed by CSL in areas of ship design, construction and network integration. We look forward to associating with Indian Navy in building critical assets for the Country.”

The basic design of the Vikrant aircraft carrier was indigenously developed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design, while the entire detailed engineering, construction, and system integration were carried out by Cochin Shipyard Limited.

The shipbuilding company said that it undertook the detailed engineering of the Vikrant warship by employing advanced software, which allowed the designer to get a full 3D view of the compartments of the vessel.

With a displacement of nearly 40,000 tonnes, the Vikrant indigenous aircraft carrier is the largest warship to have been constructed in India. It is said to be a mammoth steel structure of 21,500 tonnes of special grade steel.

The Vikrant warship uses nearly 2,000kms of cabling, 120kms of piping, and has 2,300 compartments on board to accommodate nearly 1,700 people.

Powered by four gas turbines in a combined gas and gas (COGAG) propulsion configuration, INS Vikrant features high end technologies such as network centric distributed data processing and control systems, aviation facility complex, and weapons and sensors.

The Vikrant aircraft carrier is 262m long, 62m at the widest part, and 59m high. It has a top speed of nearly 28 knots and cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of approximately 7,500 nautical miles.

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