The much delayed sea trials for Cochin Shipyard Ltd's flagship project INS Vikrant, India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, are slated for June-July, an official of the state-owned shipyard told Informist.
The sea trials have faced delays due to unavailability of service engineers from Europe and Russia, whose return to Cochin Shipyard has been delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Sea Trials Have Faced Delays Due To Unavailability Of Service Engineers From Europe And Russia Due To COVID-19.
"There is no stop in work, the manpower is available, the issue related to logistics and arrival of service engineers from abroad remains on account of restrictions in international travel," the official said.
INS Vikrant, also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1, is a 40,000 tn naval vessel, which will operate 36-40 fighter aircraft and helicopters from its deck. The Indian Navy is looking to induct it into its fleet by the end of 2021 or by 2022.
INS Vikrant is based on ski-jump designed aircraft carriers operated by Russia and the project has the involvement of Russian technicians and equipment. The project contributes about 60% to the revenue of Cochin Shipyard.
India currently operates INS Vikramaditya, the country's sole operational aircraft carrier. It is a 45,400 tn refurbished Kiev-class aircraft carrier acquired from Russia.
The quick operationalisation of INS Vikrant has assumed significance on account of rising geopolitical tensions between India and China, with the latter increasing its naval presence in the north Indian Ocean Region, an area India considers to be under its sphere of influence.
The Indian Navy is also keen on the construction of a second aircraft carrier. As per preliminary plans, if approved by the government, Cochin Shipyard will undertake the construction of the proposed 65,000 tn vessel.
The proposed aircraft carrier will be based on catapult assisted take-off. It will have an arrested recovery system, as against the ski-jump enabled short take-off but arrested recovery system on which the INS Vikrant is based.
Cochin Shipyard would be able to undertake any kind of construction design, be it based on ski-jump or the catapult model, the official said, adding that the final call on this is awaited from the higher echelons of the defence establishment.
The company's revenue for Apr-Dec was at 17.39 bln rupees. Shipbuilding contributed 15.18 bln rupees to this.
At 1347 IST, shares of Cochin Shipyard were trading 0.8% higher at 383.00 rupees on the National Stock Exchange.
INS Vikrant sea trials by July, says Cochin Shipyard
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