India's First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 'INS Vikrant'

India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) for the Indian Navy has been floated out at state-owned Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). This made India the fifth country after the US, Russia, Britain and France to have the capability to build such vessels. The carrier is expected to be delivered by end 2018.

The IAC-1 is a 40,000 tonne air defence platform and will be named INS Vikrant. 

The aircraft carrier INS Vikrant will have an endurance of 8,000 nautical miles and will be to carry a maximum of 30 aircraft. INS Vikrant will have long-range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR SAM) systems with a multi-function radar, a close-in weapon system, the most modern C/D band early air-warning radar and the V/UHF tactical air-navigational and direction finding systems. The carrier will have two take-off runways and landing. 260 metre in length and 60 m in breadth and capable of attaining speeds over 28 knots (56 km per hour), the carrier will be able to accommodate about 25 aircraft. It will have a crew of about 1,450.