India's INS Vikrant: Awesome or Obsolete?- Learn Quick Zone

 India's INS Vikrant: Awesome or Obsolete?

 

Why In News :-

Recently, India’s Defence Minister reviewed the ongoing work on the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), INS Vikrant (IAC-1), which is a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

• INS Vikrant, is  commissioned in 2 Sep 2022.

INS Vikrant was an aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. It was bought from the United Kingdom in the year 1957 and commissioned into the Indian Navy on 12 December 1961. This carrier served till 1997 before it was decommissioned in 1997. The ship has been replaced by INS Virat which was inducted into the navy on 14 May 2014. This article takes a look at both INS Vikrant
and INS Virat to help you decide whether you think INS Vikrant was awesome or obsolete!

    The Aircraft Carrier Vikrant    

As India's first indigenously built aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant is an impressive milestone for India. For most countries, having just one aircraft carrier would be a significant accomplishment; but for India, where it has fought three wars with its neighbors in the past 25 years and relies heavily on imports to meet its military needs, it is a necessity. The INS Vikrant was developed in light of reports that China had plans to project naval power into the Indian Ocean and could rival Russia as the world's second largest navy by 2020. However, The role of aircraft carriers has been rendered obsolete by advanced technologies that can project power without deploying large conventional forces and ever-increasing reliance on long-range strike weapons such as missiles and stealthy aircraft. In addition, Chinese development of new anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) capable of striking targets more than 900 miles away (1,500 kilometers) threatens the survivability of any surface ship.

 The technology on board    

INS Vikrant is the third ship of the Indian Navy. It was commissioned in August 2014. INS Vikrant is an aircraft carrier, the largest warship ever made by India. It can take on more than 30 fighters and attack helicopters that can provide much-needed support to ground troops from long ranges at sea. The warship weighs 40,000 tons and has a deck that measures over 330 meters. The vessel has ten decks. Four are dedicated for aviation related activities and six are intended for accommodation and various services. INS Vikrant features four jet-powered catapults and 12 arrestor wires which can be used to launch aircraft like the MiG 29Ks off its flight deck. The vessel also boasts of one of the biggest radars available on any naval platform.

The Design  

Launched in 1961, the Indian Navy's premier aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, has served admirably for over five decades. Originally designed as a World War II Royal Navy vessel, Vikrant means courageous in Sanskrit. It has also been touted as India's first indigenous aircraft carrier. Nonetheless, even though it might be considered a worthy symbol of India's recent engineering successes, it is not without its share of issues.

INdia's Role In the Region 

This ship will feature 16 long-range surface-to-air missiles, 12 short range surface-to-air missiles, a naval gun and 8 torpedo tubes. it will be the country's first aircraft carrier to have a short take off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) configuration with six ski jump bows and will cost around $3 billion. The new indigenous Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant is primarily designed for power projection in the littoral regions, search and rescue duties as well as anti piracy operations. The ship measures 226 meters in length and weighs over 13,000 tonnes, is comparable to United States Nimitz class carriers with an added advantage of being largely indigenously manufactured apart from certain technologies sourced from abroad such as its propulsion system which has been customised from France. It is named after the Indian Navy's first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant (R11), that served from 1961 to 1997. It was commissioned on 3rd August 2013 by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a ceremony held at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

Why Other Countries Need Carriers   

So why is the carrier so important for India, which has been on a military ship-buying spree in recent years. For one, carriers are incredibly expensive. The world market price for a carrier is somewhere around $5 billion. These days, countries can spend much less to develop their own land-based aircraft and ballistic missiles to perform the same missions that fleets of carriers do at much lower cost. But in India's case, the country needs its own carrier because it simply doesn't have any other way to project power overseas without violating neighbors' airspace.

Life On Board

INS Vikrant is India's first aircraft carrier, one of the most advanced weapons system in the world, and one of the biggest floating airfield in existence. With a number of other significant roles to fulfill, this vessel is probably one of the most important factors for ensuring national security for India. The aircraft carrier has undergone a series of sea trials over the past six months with reports coming in on Sunday saying that it will be officially commissioned by Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar soon. Being 482 feet long and 103 feet wide, INS Vikrant features a ski-jump flight deck and full load displacement was increased to 18000 tonnes. With good structure and propulsion this ship can reach speeds of up to 25 knots per hour. It also possesses nuclear-powered steam turbines and catapults, which give fighter jets a longer range and faster speed. So why should this matter to you if you are not an Indian citizen? A lot actually! In 2012, the US government awarded four billion dollars worth of contracts to Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., General Electric Co., United Technologies Corp., Raytheon Co., Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. and BAE Systems Plc. These contracts have been controversial because they were awarded without any bidding process which puts out country at risk in terms of potential cost overruns and lack of competition.

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