Date: 05/09/2022

Relevance: GS-3: Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life.

Key Phrases: first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, decommissioning, Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), INS Viraat, Warship Design Bureau (WDB), ‘SAGAR’ or Security and Growth for All in the Region, INS Vishal.

Why in News?

• India has commissioned its first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, and joined a small group of countries which include the U.S., the U.K., Russia, France and China, that can design and build carriers with a displacement of over 40,000 tonnes.

Features:

• The new vessel has 76% of indigenous content overall but its critical technology has been imported, pointing to the need for persistence.
• The building of the vessel – 262-metres long and 62-metres wide –displaces about 43,000 tonnes when fully loaded and has a maximum designed speed of 28 Knots with an endurance of 7500 NM.
• It has around 2,200 compartments for a crew of around 1,600 that include specialised cabins to accommodate women officers and sailors, and a full-fledged speciality medical facility.
• It took 17 years from the time the steel was cut and around ₹20,000 crores to make Vikrant a reality.
• The motto of the ship is Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah which is taken from Rig Veda and is translated as “I defeat those who fight against me”.

Indigenous design and construction:

• The plan for building an indigenous aircraft carrier started taking shape as the old INS Vikrant neared its decommissioning in the late 1990s.
• After it was retired, India relied on INS Viraat, which had then been serving the Indian Navy for over 10 years, after its earlier 25-year stint with the Royal Navy as HMS Hermes.
• Meantime, the design and construction of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-I (IAC-I) were sanctioned in January 2003.
• Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), a public sector shipbuilding entity under the Ministry of Shipping, was tasked to build the ship. This was the first warship construction project for the CSL.
• It is designed by the Warship Design Bureau (WDB), the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation.

Significance:

• Self-reliance:
  • Developing a viable domestic defence industry has been a priority for India, and the new aircraft carrier is a sign of India’s expanding atmanirbharta or self-reliance in defence.
  • Several technological spin-offs from the ship’s construction include the capacity to manufacture warship-grade steel, which India used to import.
  • Its commissioning gives India and its emerging defence manufacturing sector the confidence to aim and sail farther.
• Maritime security:
  • INS Vikrant will be the wind in the sail for India’s proactive maritime strategy in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region.
  • It will fulfil India’s interest in “a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific” and the idea of ‘SAGAR’ or Security and Growth for All in the Region.
• Enable the transition from Brown Water Navy to Blue Water Navy:
  • IAC will help Indian Navy in its transition from Brown Water Navy to Blue Water Navy.
  • A blue-water navy is a navy that has the capacity to project a nation’s strength and power across the high seas.
  • A brown water navy is capable of military operations in littoral zone waters.
• Capability:
  • It would be capable of operating an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft, comprising MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy).
  • Using a novel aircraft operation mode known as Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR), the IAC is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft, and a set of three ‘arrester wires’ for their recovery onboard.
• Global Trade:
  • A strong Navy is also critical to India’s ambition to grow its share in global trade, which is largely maritime - INS Vikrant significantly expands the Indian Navy’s footprint in the backdrop of increasing Chinese activity in the region and New Delhi’s closer cooperation with the U.S. While MiG-29K fighter jets will now be integrated into the fleet air arm of Vikrant, the Navy has taken an active interest in procuring either the French Rafale M or the American F/A-18 Super Hornet.
  • This would need structural modifications in the ship which would allow operating these more capable aircraft from its deck.

The demand for another aircraft carrier

• The Indian Navy’s ambition is to have three aircraft carriers - it already has INS Vikramaditya procured from Russia - and it has suggested that the expertise gained from building Vikrant could now be used to build a second, more capable, indigenous carrier.
• The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-II will be named INS Vishal with a proposed displacement of around 65,000 tonnes, equalling the Queen Elizabeth class of carriers of the UK.
• The idea is for India to have two carriers at any given point in time if a third is in the refit.

Conclusion:

• As India moves rapidly towards a $5 trillion economy, its share in global trade will increase. A large part of it will inevitably be through maritime routes. In such a situation, INS Vikrant will be crucial as it will safeguard India’s security and economic interests.
• The commissioning of INS Vikrant showed the government’s resolve to ensure the safety and security of India for the next 25 years.
• Vikrant is an assurance to friendly foreign countries that India is capable of meeting the collective security needs of the region.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. What is the strategic significance of the commissioning of India’s first indigenously designed and manufactured aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant? Discuss.