China News Service, September 2. According to comprehensive foreign media reports, on September 2, with the authorization of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's first indigenously built aircraft carrier "Vikrant" officially launched in the waters of its southern state of Kerala. service.
According to CNN, the service of the "Vikrant" makes India officially join the "club of aircraft carrier great powers".
On August 12, local time, India's first domestically built aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, was officially launched at the Cochin Shipyard in India.
According to CNN reports, on September 2, the Indian government held a commissioning ceremony for India's first domestically produced aircraft carrier "Vikrant" at the Cochin Shipyard. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ceremony and delivered a speech, saying "Vikrant" The number has filled the country with "new confidence" and "is a symbol of the hard work, indigenous strength and ingenuity of the Indian people."
CNN said that with the "Vikrant" aircraft carrier, India has joined the "elite club" that can build its own aircraft carrier.
According to the Times of India, the "Vikrant" is 262 meters long and 62 meters wide. The aircraft carrier has a full-load displacement of about 43,000 tons, a maximum speed of 28 knots, and a sustainable voyage of 8,000 nautical miles. It is the largest tonnage built in the history of India. warship.
Its cost is as high as 200 billion Indian rupees, and it can carry about 30 various types of carrier-based aircraft, including MiG-29K fighter jets, Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopters, MH-60R multi-purpose helicopters, as well as advanced light helicopters and light fighter jets made in India. .
Design work on the Vikrant began in 1999 and was officially launched in August 2013.
In August 2021, the ship began its first sea trials.
It is expected to form a full operational capability in 2023.