The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) - 'Vikrant' proceeds for maiden sea trial

The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) - "Vikrant", India's most complex warship to have been indigenously built by Cochin Shipyard for the Indian Navy proceeded for its maiden sea trials on August 4, 2021 from Cochin Shipyard. The vessels propulsion plants will be put to rigorous testing at the sea in addition to the trials of various navigation, communication and hull equipment.

The commencement of sea trials of the IAC after trials of various equipment at the harbour, especially during these difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic is a landmark achievement for Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).

Cochin Shipyard Limited is the largest public sector shipyard in India and the only shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

The launching of the IAC from Cochin Shipyard's Building dock in Aug 2013 with the strong support of the Ministry had catapulted the nation into the elite League of Nations capable of designing and building an Aircraft Carrier.

"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." Said Madhu S Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of CSL.

The basic design of the IAC has been developed indigenously by the Directorate of Naval Design of the Indian Navy and the entire detailed engineering, construction and system integration is undertaken by Cochin Shipyard Limited. The shipyard carried out the detailed engineering of the ship using advanced software which enabled the designer to get a complete 3D view of the compartments of the ship. It is the first time in the country that a ship the size of an Aircraft Carrier is completely modeled in 3D and production drawings extracted from the 3D model.

The IAC is the largest warship built in the country having a displacement of about 40,000 tonnes. The ship is a mammoth steel structure of 21,500 tonnes of special grade steel developed indigenously and used in Indian Naval Ships for the first time. The enormity of the ship can be gauged from the appx 2000 kms of cabling, 120 kms of piping and the 2300 compartments available onboard.

The vessel is powered by four gas turbines in a COGAG (Combined Gas and Gas) propulsion configuration. The IAC is equipped with numerous high end technologies including network centric distributed data processing & control systems, intricate Aviation Facility Complex, the state of the art weapons and sensors and also has one of the most powerful propulsion and power generation & distribution (PGD) systems to be installed on board any ship to be built in India.

Construction of the IAC has contributed immensely to the Indian economy as it generated a demand in both the upstream industries such as steel, electro mechanical machinery equipment and also for downstream sectors such as infrastructure and services. This has led to growth in indigenous design and construction capabilities besides development of a large number of ancillary industries, with employment opportunities for 2000 CSL personnel and about 12000 employees in ancillary industries. Over 76% indigenous content towards procurement of equipment, besides work by CSL and their subcontractors is being directly invested back into the Indian economy. Around 550 Indian firms including about 100 MSMEs are registered with CSL, who are providing various services for construction of IAC.

This is a true reflection of the Make in India and Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiatives of the Government of India.

Cochin Shipyard Ltd has a long association with the Indian Navy in the Ship Repair front and all of the Indian Navy's Aircraft Carriers have undergone their major refits and docking in Cochin Shipyard Ltd only. With the progress in construction of the IAC, the synergy between the yard and the Indian Navy has grown multifold. Currently, the yard is constructing 8 Nos Anti Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASWSWCs) and also won an order for the construction of 6 Nos Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMV) for the Indian Navy. The shipyard is also augmenting their infrastructure including a new dry dock to cater for the construction of even larger ships including a next generation Aircraft Carrier.

The Aircraft Carrier is a mini floating city, with a flight deck area covering the size of two football fields. The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is 262 m long, 62 m at the widest part and height of 59 m including the superstructure. 'Vikrant' has a top speed of around 28 knots and cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles. There are 14 decks in all, including five in the superstructure. The ship has over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1700 people, including specialised cabins to accommodate women officers.

Shares of Cochin Shipyard Limited was last trading in BSE at Rs. 374.65 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 374.8. The total number of shares traded during the day was 16501 in over 1033 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 378 and intraday low of 373.1. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 6192772.

Source : Equity Bulls

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