INS Vikrant is an aircraft carrier in service with the Indian Navy. The carrier is India's fourth carrier and the first to be built domestically. It was constructed by the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). The name Vikrant is a tribute to India's first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant (1961). Vikrant means "courageous" in Sanskrit. The motto of the ship, "जयेम सम् युधिस्पृधः" (Sanskrit), means "I defeat those who dare to challenge me" (English). It is currently one of two active aircraft carriers in the Indian Navy, the other being the flagship INS Vikramaditya.
Work on the ship's design began in 1999. The keel was laid in 2009. The carrier was floated out of dry dock in December 2011 and launched in August 2013. Basin trials were completed in December 2020, and sea trials started in August 2021. Its commissioning ceremony was held on 2 September 2022. Aircraft flight trials have been completed in 2023. The total cost of the project is approximately at the time of first sea trials.
It is in length, with a top speed of and endurance of . The ship has 2,300 compartments crewed by 1,700 sailors. It has a hospital complex, cabins for female officers, of corridors, and four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines.
Background In 1989, a plan was announced for constructing two aircraft carriers. It was set to decommission in 1997. In 1999, Defence Minister George Fernandes authorised the development and construction of an aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, under the Project 71 Air Defence Ship (ADS). By that time, given the ageing Sea Harrier fleet, the letter of intent called for a carrier that would carry more modern jet fighters. In 2001, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) released a graphic illustration showing a STOBAR (Short Take-Off, Barrier-Arrested Recovery) design with a pronounced ski jump.
The aircraft carrier project received formal government approval in January 2003. By then, design updates called for a carrier to operate the Mikoyan MiG-29K. India opted for a three-carrier fleet consisting of one carrier battle group stationed on each seaboard, and a third carrier held in reserve, in order to continuously protect both its flanks, to protect economic interests and mercantile traffic, and to provide humanitarian platforms in times of disasters, since a carrier can provide a self-generating supply of fresh water, medical assistance or engineering expertise to populations in need for assistance.
In August 2006, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash stated that the designation for the vessel had been changed from Air Defence Ship (ADS) to Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC). The euphemistic ADS had been adopted in planning stages to ward off concerns about a naval build-up. Final revisions to the design increased the displacement of the carrier from 37,500 tons to over 45,000 tons. The length of the ship increased from to .
Design
INS Vikrant is long and wide, and displaces about . It features a STOBAR configuration. It can carry an air group of up to thirty-six aircraft, including 26 fixed-wing combat aircraft, and a mix of Dhruv MK-III, Sikorsky MH-60R and Kamov Ka-31 helicopters. The Ka-31 will fulfil the airborne early warning (AEW) role, MH-60R will provide anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities, and Dhruv will be used mainly for search and rescue operations.
Vikrant is powered by four General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines on two shafts, generating over 80 megawatts (110,000 hp) of power. The gearboxes for the carriers were designed and supplied by Elecon Engineering.
The ship's combat management system (CMS) was developed by Tata Advanced Systems. It is the first CMS developed by a private company for the Indian Navy and was handed over to the Navy on 28 March 2019.
Components
Flight deck: The flight deck measures an area of . 12 fighter jets and 6 helicopters can be parked on the flight deck to respond immediately to an emergency situation. There is one shorter runway, and one longer runway accompanied by a 14° ski-jump for take-off. The flight deck is equipped with 2 restraining gears for take-off and 3 arresting gears (20 tonne steel cables) for landing. The deck features non-skid paint and Saturn Lighting System for night-time operations. Aircraft hangar: The hangar is situated 5 decks below the flight deck and has a 20 aircraft-capacity. It is equipped with 2 hydraulic 360° rotatable turntables, which are circular revolving platforms to turn an aircraft in any direction. The carrier has 2 giant elevators of payload capacity. This is opposed to the INS Vikramaditya which has only one elevator in the centre of the flight deck. The centre placement implies that the flight operations are needed to be stopped during elevator operations and vice versa. Vikrant's elevator configuration negates this limitation. Damage Control HQ (DCHQ): The DCHQ is tasked with preventing fire and floods on the vessel. There are over 3,000 fire sensors and 700 flood sensors on the ship. DCHQ is staffed around-the-clock to monitor and mitigating fire and flooding. Operations (Ops) Room: The Ops Room is responsible for all the decisions for all the operations of not only the ship but also of the Carrier Battle Group accompanying it. The decisions on which gun or aircraft is to be deployed, the formation of the CBG, etc. is planned and executed from the Ops Room. It includes the Combat Management System, weapons controls and sensors, electronic charts, radar controls among other equipments. The Maritime Domain Awareness System also gives an insight on the position of all ships present in the Indian Ocean Region. Ship Control Centre (SCC): This is the command and control centre of the aircraft carrier. Every system on board the ship is controlled and operated from the SCC. The Bridge of the ship is commanded by the Captain of the ship. Beside the Bridge, the Flight Control Position (FLYCO) is located. This is similar to an air traffic control tower of an airfield. It is at a height of 10 metres above the flight deck, providing all-round clear visibility of flight-deck, technical positions and as the helicopter landing spots. FLYCO is equipped with Automatic Weather Observations System (AWOS), a set of sensors which continually monitors various parameters crucial for flying such as temperature, pressure, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction. Medical facilities: The ship houses a 16-bed hospital operated by five medical officers and 25 assistants. There are several wards inside the facility including a medical/general ward, an isolation ward, a female ward, and a casualty and ICU. It is capable to handle any kind of emergency on board the ship. A CT scan facility is also present.
Carrier Air Group Vikrants air group can consist up to 22 Rafale M fighters and up to 4 Kamov Ka-31, or 2 HAL Dhruv NUH or 4 MH-60R helicopters.
TEDBF and MiG-29K Earlier, the Indian Navy considered fielding the MiG-29K, and the LCA Navy on Vikrant. At the same time in 2009, the then Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma hinted that the Navy was carrying out a concept study for a more capable naval fighter,
In 2016 the Navy announced that the Tejas was overweight for carrier operations, and other alternatives would be looked at.
During the Aero India 2021, the concept of a HAL TEDBF (Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter) was unveiled. The TEDBF is to be introduced in service by 2038. Naval Tejas being a technology demonstrator development of niche technology for deck based fighter operations, paving the way for TEDBF. Vikrant's Carrier Air Group's fighter jet component is currently fulfilled by 12 MiG-29Ks. The Navy could also transfer a squadron of MiG-29K to INS Dega to form the Carrier Air Group of the aircraft carrier until the arrival of Rafale.
Rafale
For the optimum utilisation of Rafale from the carrier, some changes in the elevators would be necessary in the carrier. Further, the wing pylons would have to be removed from the jets during lift operations, that is, transferring the jets from hangar to flight deck and vice versa.
On April 28, 2025, the Indian Navy signed a deal of 26 Rafale M fighters with France, for which deliveries are to start from 2030.
Carrier Battle Group After commissioning, Vikrant was initially based at at Karwar. However, the ship's home base will be changed to Visakhapatnam after the development of certain infrastructures in the Eastern Seaboard. This will lead to the operationalisation of a Carrier Battle Group (CBG) under the Eastern Fleet which will include the s, and . As of December 2024, an aircraft carrier berth is under construction in the naval outer area of Visakhapatnam Naval Base.
Construction
Vikrant is the first aircraft carrier to be designed by the Warship Design Bureau (formerly Directorate of Naval Design) of the Indian Navy and the first warship to be built by Cochin Shipyard. Its construction involved participation of a large number of private and public firms.
The Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) created facilities to manufacture the DMR 249 grade steel in India. Reportedly, of three types of special steel for the hull, flight deck and floor compartments were manufactured at the Bokaro Steel Plant (Jharkhand), Bhilai Steel Plant (Chhattisgarh) and Rourkela Steel Plant (Odisha). Due to this, Vikrant is the first ship of the Indian Navy to be built completely using domestically produced steel.
The main switch board, steering gear and water tight hatches have been manufactured by Larsen & Toubro in Mumbai and Talegaon; high-capacity air conditioning and refrigeration systems have been manufactured in Kirloskar Group's plants in Pune; most pumps have been supplied by Best and Crompton; Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) supplied the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), which is being installed by Avio, an Italian company; the gear box was supplied by Elecon Engineering; and the electrical cables are being supplied by Nicco Industries. Fincantieri provided consultancy for the propulsion package while Russia's Nevskoye Design Bureau designed the aviation complex.
The keel for Vikrant was laid by Defence Minister A.K. Antony at the Cochin Shipyard on 28 February 2009. The ship uses modular construction, with 874 blocks joined for the hull. By the time the keel was laid, 423 blocks weighing over 8,000 tons had been completed. In August 2011, the Defence Ministry reported to the Lok Sabha that 75% of the construction work for the hull of the lead carrier had been completed and the carrier would be first launched in December 2011, following which further works would be completed until commissioning. On 29 December 2011, the completed hull of the carrier was first floated out of its dry dock at CSL, with its displacement at over . Interior works and fittings on the hull would be carried out until the second half of 2012, when it would again be dry-docked for integration with its propulsion and power generation systems. By late 2012, work commenced for the next stage of construction, which included the installation of the integrated propulsion system, the superstructure, the upper decks, the cabling, sensors and weapons.Shortly before launch on 21st March 2013, the Indian Coast Guard vessel ICGS Abheek, which was in advanced stages of fitting out in the same drydock but ahead of Vikrant was slowly winched over the ship on specially designed cradles before being launched by itself into the water by dock technicians.
Launch
In July 2013, Defence Minister Antony announced that Vikrant would be launched on 12 August at the Cochin Shipyard. The ship was launched by his wife, Elizabeth Antony, on 12 August 2013.