INS Vikrant headed for ‘guarantee refit’

India’s latest aircraft carrier INS Vikrant is headed for a “guarantee refit” at Cochin Shipyard and will be prepared for long endurance operations by the end of 2023.

Even though INS Vikrant is headed for its mandatory “guarantee refit”, the INS Vikramaditya carrier is fully operational after a major overhaul last year and will be charting oceans this year. 

About INS Vikrant

INS Vikrant is the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier and the most complex warship ever built in India by M/s Cochin Shipyard Ltd and designed by the Warship Design Bureau (formerly Directorate of Naval Design) of the Indian Navy. Its construction involved participation of a large number of private and public firms. 

The total development cost for the Aircraft Carrier touched Rs 23,000 crore (US$2.9 billion). 

Commissioned into the Indian Navy on 02 Sep 22 in the presence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, the Carrier is a big boost to the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision of the Government of India.

Since its maiden sailing on 04 Aug 21, INS Vikrant has undergone extensive Sea trials

General Characteristics:

Displacement:  

45,000 tonnes of loaded displacement

45,000 tonnes (44,000 long tons; 50,000 short tons) standard

Length: 262 m (860 ft)

Beam: 62 m (203 ft)

Height: 59 m (194 ft)

Draught: 8.4 m (28 ft)

Depth: 25.6 m (84 ft)

Decks: 14

Installed Power:

4 × General Electric LM2500 Gas Turbine (88 MW)

2 × Elecon COGAG Gearbox

Propulsion: Two shafts

Speed: 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)

Range: 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi

Crew: 196 officers, 1,449 sailors (including air crew)

Sensors and Processing Systems :

Elta EL/M-2248 MF-STAR AESA multifunction radar

Selex RAN-40L 3D L-Band Air Surveillance Radar

Electronic Warfare & Decoys:    

DRDO Shakti EW suite

Kavach anti-missile system

Maareech Advanced Torpedo Defence System

Armament:       

32 cell VLS Barak 8 SAM (Range : 0.5 km (0.31 mi) to 100 km (62 mi)

4 × Otobreda 76 mm (3 in) dual purpose cannons

4 × AK-630 CIWS

Aircraft carried: 36 Aircraft

Fixed-wing: MiG-29K

Rotary-wing: Kamov Ka-31, MH-60R, HAL Dhruv

Aviation facilities: 12,500 m2 flight deck

Source for General Characteristics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Vikrant_(2013)