INS Vikrant inducted into Indian Navy

INS Vikrant inducted into Indian Navy- Relevance for UPSC Exam

General Studies III- Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

In News

The Navy has taken delivery of the IAC-1, which after commissioning will be named ‘INS Vikrant’ after India’s beloved first aircraft carrier.

INS Vikrant

• Nation’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier by Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
• IAC-1 — as the carrier is currently codenamed — has been designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design (DND), and built at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), a public sector shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping.
• After commissioning most probably on Independence Day, it will be called ‘Vikrant’ as a tribute to India’s first aircraft carrier, Vikrant (R11) which means “courageous” in Sanskrit.

The original “Vikrant”

• A Majestic-class 19,500-tonne warship, acquired from the UK in 1961, played a stellar role in the 1971 War with Pakistan.
• Deployed in the Bay of Bengal, the ‘Vikrant’ and its two air squadrons of Sea Hawk fighter jets and Alize surveillance aircraft were used in strikes on ports, merchant ships, and other targets, and to prevent Pakistani forces from escaping through maritime routes.
• A source of immense national pride over several decades, it was decommissioned in 1997.

Warship for Modern Warfare

• It will be equipped with modern weapons systems including long range surface-to-air missiles (LR SAM) and close-in weapons system (CIWS).
• Over thirty aircraft, including indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), MiG-29K combat jets and a range of helicopters, including Kamnov-31, can be deployed on the carrier.
• Navy said that once commissioned, IAC-1 will be “the most potent sea-based asset”, which will operate the Russian-made MiG-29K fighter aircraft and Kamov-31 Air Early Warning Helicopters.
• It will also operate the soon-to-be-inducted MH-60R Seahawk multirole helicopter manufactured by the American aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin, and the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) built by Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
• The warship will offer an “incomparable military instrument with its ability to 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.

Importance of an Aircraft carrier for a nation

• An aircraft carrier is one of the most potent marine assets for any nation, which enhances a Navy’s capability to travel far from its home shores to carry out air domination operations.
• To be considered a “blue water” navy that is, a navy that has the capacity to project a nation’s strength and power across the high seas, it is necessary to have an aircraft carrier.
• As it leads as the capital ship of a carrier strike/ battle group becoming a prized and sometimes vulnerable target and hence, it is usually escorted in the group by destroyers, missile cruisers, frigates, submarines, and supply ships.

Rising Indian Defence Sector

• India has joined the prestigious club of the countries that have the capacity of manufacturing and aircraft carrier.
• The demonstration of the capacity and self-reliance to build what is considered to be one of the most advanced and complex battleships in the world has put India on Global Power map.

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