By Vice Admiral S N Ghormade PVSM, AVSM, NM, ADC
The commissioning of INS Vikrant, India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2nd September 2022 marked a historic day for our nation and its Navy.
From humble beginnings, in the form of a 150 ton ship INS Ajay in the 1960s to the 42,800 ton INS Vikrant today, is indeed a remarkable feat. INS Vikrant stands tall as a testament to the outstanding efforts of all stakeholders involved in developing the nation’s flagship carrier, and it will serve as a lighthouse of inspiration to India’s indigenous shipbuilding capabilities. The Indian Naval Ship Design Team has, over the years, produced 93 ships based on 19 different designs. It takes years to develop capability and technical expertise to conceptualise, design and produce warships, particularly an
Aircraft Carrier. The Nation is proud of what the Navy has achieved thus far, and we would continue to induct state of the art warships that are Made in India, Made for India and Make for the world.
The unveiling of the new naval ensign inspired by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his maritime vision on that momentous day, I believe, added to its memorability. This has enabled us as a people to embrace our rich Indian maritime heritage. With a new nishaan, the Indian Navy, which has proven itself as a builder’s navy, time and time again, takes the nation to a new era of self-reliance.
INS Vikrant: A Storied Voyage!
Designing and building an aircraft carrier is believed to be the zenith of warship design and construction; the construction of the gargantuan INS Vikrant provides a distinctly advantageous position of strategic and technological eminence to our nation. The carrier’s journey to becoming the beacon of Atma Nirbharta in defence is a glorious tale of innovation at every step. Therefore, Vikrant, is a shining symbol of an aspirational and AtmaNirbhar India. It is an icon of ‘national pride’, ‘national strength’, ‘national resolve’ and ‘national inspiration’. Her commissioning marks a new era in indigenous warship design and construction.
The design for INS Vikrant, the largest and most complex warship to have ever been built in the nation’s maritime history was prepared by an in-house organisation of the Indian Navy- Warship Design Bureau (erstwhile Directorate of Naval Design). The designs prepared by the Directorate of Naval Design transitioned from a Sea Control Ship (SCS) capable of Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft operations, to an Air Defence Ship (ADS) that could allow the naval version of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to operate from it. This version accommodated the design for launching the aircraft from a ski jump. With further ideation, the design of a carrier capable of Short Take Off and Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) was developed with the ability to operate MiG-29Ks and LCA (N).
In November of 2002, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) provided the sanction required to go for the aircraft carrier.
Built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), the project spanned 13 years from keel laying and resulted in being a torchbearer of our national vision and strategic resolve. This indigenous rendition of the former INS Vikrant is significantly larger than its battle-tested predecessor which had served with distinction in the 1971 Indo-Pak war for the liberation of Bangladesh. In fact, INS Vikrant is a mammoth measuring 262.5 metres in length and 61.6 metres in breadth. It has a displacement of an estimated 42,800 tons with a maximum speed of 28 knots. Powered by four gas turbines totalling 88 megawatts of power, the STOBAR capable INS Vikrant is a potent seafarer. It is the outcome of a project carried out in three distinct phases.
The contract between the Ministry of Defence and CSL saw the conclusion of its first phase in May 2007, the second phase was concluded in December 2014 while the third phase was finished in October 2019. The aircraft carrier’s keel was laid down in February 2009 and was launched four years later in August 2013.With an ability to carry a mix of 30 aircraft and helicopter, featuring a 191 metre-long flight runway, and five decks in the superstructure plus 10 more below the flight deck, the warship is truly marvellous.
Traversing this journey towards greater self-reliance is in large measure to the merit of India’s Naval designers: they had acquired significant knowledge over the course of years of warship design, and left no stone unturned to put it to use in this iconic project. That experience reflects in the many design evolutions that the construction of INS Vikrant incorporated. Intricate structural analysis using sophisticated software, scaled model studies, and CFD analysis for safe air operations are a few of many such novelties. In keeping with the times, the aircraft carrier’s design also features a high degree of automation for the operation of machinery, and the ship’s navigation and survivability.
Indigenous Defence Ecosystem Sets Sail
The Navy, through this project, has invested approximately Twenty Thousand Crore rupees into the Indian Shipbuilding industry. Indigenous shipbuilding projects are catalysts for employment generation and skill development. In this regard, this project involved employment of about 2000 personnel by the Shipyard over the last 15 years. In addition, the project also generated employment for over 500 firms including around 100 MSMEs totaling to about 13000 in direct employment in ancillary industries. Each one of these personnel and entities have contributed to the Culmination of the
Project.
It is important to mention how several of the warship’s subsystems and machinery have been developed within the country. Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division earned the distinction of being the first private company to develop a Combat Management System for the Indian Navy, and did so with INS Vikrant. The aircraft carrier’s entire electrical cabling has been supplied by domestic firms.
Larsen & Toubro have provided the Steering Gear, Main Switchboards, Energy Distribution Centres, Change over Switches, 230V Distribution Panels, and Hatches, while Kavach Chaff Launchers, Shakti EW System, Ship’s Data Network, and Versatile Communication System have been sourced from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Keltron was the supplier for the state-of-the-art Echosounder, Electromagnetic Log, and Underwater Telephone for INS Vikrant. These are only a few of multiple indigenous suppliers for several components fitted on the carrier. In all, around 550 Indian companies, including about 100 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been involved in the development of the Navy’s flagship carrier!
Yet another unforgettable part of the project was the development of state-of-the-art indigenous warship-grade steel. This was carried out by the Indian Navy in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), allowing our nation to be self-reliant in its supply of warship steel. This entails that future naval warship projects will be made in the country with its own steel, taking the Indian Navy forward in its goal to become a truly self-reliant blue water naval power.
Through the concerted efforts of entities from all corners of the Indian defence spectrum, the Indian Navy now boasts of an aircraft carrier with 76% indigenous content. This level of indigenisation is a testament to the success of Government of India’s ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Initiative’ and has been the result of the unparalleled efforts put into the project by the best in the business.
The vessel’s ‘made-in-India’ equipment and machinery is the result of undying innovation by titans of the Indian Defence Industry. From Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) like Bharat Heavy Electronics Limited (BHEL), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE), and the Kerala State government owned Keltron, to private sector giants like Wartsila India Limited, Elcome Pvt Ltd, the construction of INS Vikrant integrated the expertise of and, I believe, greatly enhanced the capabilities of all. The course of the project also saw Cochin Shipyard significantly enhance their existing shipbuilding infrastructure and bolster their existing skill-set and technical know-how, all of which bodes well for the future of Indian warship building and empowers the nation to undertake even more ambitious warship and carrier projects.
The development of the aircraft carrier has given a significant impetus to the development of numerous ancillary industries, creating massive employment opportunities and harnessing skill development in highly specialised domains. It is a national effort which gives back to the national economy! I would like to point out that the learnings from these projects, especially smaller companies, has undoubtedly given them the technical know-how, prowess and exposure required to scale up, grow and continue adding to our nation’s talent pool and economy. On this note it is pertinent to highlight how the commissioning of INS Vikrant into the Indian Navy’s arsenal is not just a testament to its storied history, engineering prowess and strategic value but has further bolstered the industry and the navy’s self-reliance for the future as well.
I am certain that India, with the experience of construction of Vikrant, would now be able to make another Indigenous A/C Carrier for the navy much faster and with 100 % indigenous equipment. The indigenous construction of Vikrant has created an ecosystem which needs to be nurtured. The indigenous construction of Aircraft Carrier, and its entire process spanning efforts by the Navy, industry, academia, and MSMEs, is a shining example of what ‘Team India’ can achieve.
Vikrant also shows that, as a Nation, we can and we will accomplish whatever we set our sights on. We must challenge our capacities, develop new capabilities and come together in catapulting our Nation into an industrial powerhouse. Just like we have built our own aircraft carrier from ‘keel to top’, so can we build our indigenous industry that produces a wide array of goods from ‘generic to specific’. Our Shipbuilding Industry in particular, must set itself on an aspirational trajectory to establish itself as a global shipbuilding hub that can produce a wide range of ships, from barges to ultra large crude carriers, from manned to unmanned. Vikrant shows that we can, and we will reach the skies through our Umang, Urja, aur Udyam.
INS Vikrant is the first of many historic developments which will carry the Indian Navy into becoming a truly self-reliant maritime force by 2047, which is when our young nation will have reached the next century of its life as an independent country. The demonstration of developing a technically complex, challenging strategic platform gives us the confidence to develop solutions to our operational needs such as ‘made-in-India’ warships, submarines, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. Indigenous submarines, naval aircraft are two key areas where we have already showcased our prowess as a builder’s navy, and we will continue to do so, from India@75 to India@100.
Sham No Varunaḥ!
