The largest and the first indigenously-built, 40,642-tonne aircraft carrier (IAC) to be christened as INS Vikrant on commissioning was undocked on Jun 10 at a simple ceremony held at the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).

The ship, being built at CSL, would be required to undergo a series of fitment and trial processes and tests before it becomes ready for propulsion and inducted into the Indian Navy. Major outfitting work of the ship would be undertaken in the coming months. Prior to its delivery to the Indian Navy, the ship has to undergo basin trials and extensive sea trials. The basic design of the IAC was done by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design.

The successful completion of aircraft carrier puts India in the elite group of four nations in the world who are capable of designing and constructing aircraft carriers. The other four countries are US, China, UK and France.

The ship has a length of over 860 feet/262 metres and breadth of 197 feet/60 metres. It has two take-off runways and a landing strip with three arrester wires, capable of operating Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) aircraft including the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), as well as a range of helicopters with hangar facilities.

The ceremony of undocking of Vikrant was witnessed by Commodore Kartik Subramaniam, Chairman and Managing Director CSL. Also present during the undocking function were other officials of the shipyard.