Indian Navy
Commissioning of INS Vikrant
India commissioned its first domestically produced aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, at the Cochin Shipyard on September 2, 2022, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivering a speech emphasizing that INS Vikrant is not just a warship, but is a testament to India's 21st century hard work, talent, influence and commitment, a unique expression of India's self-reliance and a shining symbol of an aspiring and self-reliant 'New India'.
It is a symbol of national pride, strength and determination and proves that India is fully capable of meeting the collective security needs of the region. Its excitement is overwhelming.
Yet even though the ship has been commissioned, it remains a half-baked product, with its main radar, anti-aircraft missiles and carrier aircraft still missing.
The ship is 262.5 meters long, 61.6 meters wide, displaces 42,800 tons, has a full complement of about 1,645 personnel, has 2,200 interior compartments, including staterooms dedicated to female officers/sailors, has a hospital with the latest medical equipment and facilities including a wardroom housing 16 beds, as well as two operating theaters and an intensive care unit ICU, with a laboratories, CT scanners, X-ray machines, dental, telemedicine facilities and much more.
The ship is powered by four LM2500+ gas turbines, which have a power of 30,000 kilowatts each, a top speed of 28 knots, a cruising speed of 18 knots and an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles.
The Vikrant carrier has a 12,500-square-meter flight deck, which has been sprayed with a non-slip coating during the service ceremony, marking the angled landing deck area, the parking area, and the takeoff runway.
The ship has six helicopter landing sites, three arresting ropes, two starboard elevators, fixed-wing aircraft using a 14-degree skidding deck takeoff obstruction landing, there is a 203-meter long runway for heavy takeoffs, usually used on the left side of the 145-meter short runway, which will take up the landing area, but both runways do not have a flame retarder, the good thing is that it is directly to the side, and is not afraid of affecting other aircraft.
The landing strip is 191 meters long.
Capable of carrying about 30 carrier aircraft, including MiG-29K carrier fighters, Ka-31 early-warning helicopters, MH-60R multi-purpose helicopters and Indian-made light helicopters, etc.***There are twelve temporary parking spots for carrier aircraft, which are capable of supporting 15 carrier aircraft operating at the same time.
In all fairness, the Indian Vikrant aircraft carrier is indeed a reflection of the strength of the Indian shipbuilding industry.
Don't take China than the words, from the world to see the countries that can build aircraft carriers are very few, more than 50,000 tons of the remaining three U.S., Britain and China, Russia can only take the old Soviet Union to change to change, and then build a simply do not have that ability, after all, people are now building 4,000-ton frigates are the majority.
So it makes sense that India is crushing Russia in this regard, and it can be called a developing country number 2 tough.
However, there are still three major problems with the Vikrant, which are not solved, and the formation of combat effectiveness is just an empty word.
First of all, the ship is still missing the Israeli Elta EL/M-2248MF-STAR digital active phased array radar, whose antennas include four active arrays of S-band frequencies, which can track hundreds of targets at the same time at a very fast refresh rate, and its frigate version of the maximum range of detection of more than 450 kilometers, the tracking of sea-skimming missiles is more than 25 kilometers away, while the automatic tracking distance of high-altitude fighters is more than 250 kilometers away, which is more than 25 kilometers away, and the automatic tracking distance of high-altitude fighters is more than 250 kilometers away. s auto-tracking range is greater than 250 km, with an azimuth of 360°, elevation coverage from -20° to +85°, and an antenna size of 3x3 meters.
The second major problem is that the ship's Barak-8 drogue is still missing.
The Indians stuffed 2 sets of 32 pitot-engine Barak-8 anti-aircraft missiles in one breath, intended to add a layer of insurance for the carrier, but did not expect to be covered by a steel plate until now. Barak-8 can intercept anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles, fighter jets, helicopters and unmanned aerial systems, etc., the missile is about 4.55 meters long, the bullet diameter of 0.277 meters, the launch mass of about 280 kilograms, the flight speed of Mach 2, the range of 70 kilometers, however, flying to the end of the speed is extremely slow, want to stop supersonic anti-ship missiles is simply not possible.
The third major problem is the lack of carrier aircraft, which is also the most fundamental flaw.
On the day of the ceremony, there was only one MiG-29K fighter, one Ka-31 AWACS helicopter, and one Polaris helicopter on the Vikrant
It is the size of its elevator, which according to the Indians is 10 meters wide and 14 meters long, and this size puts the MiG-29K, which has a wingspan of 7.8 meters with the outer wing segments folded, without any problem at all, however, the Rafale and the F-18E/F will be Tragedy, F-18E/F outer wing section folded width of 9.93 meters, it seems to be able to fit in, however, people hangar door there is still protruding a circle, want to go through the door are not.