INS VIKRANT & INS VIKRAMADITYA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci and Tech)

Context: Recently, both aircraft carriers of the Indian Navy, INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant, demonstrated "twin carrier operations," featuring MiG-29K fighter jets taking off simultaneously and landing cross deck, observed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh aboard one of them.

INS Vikrant

• About: The INS Vikrant, the 44,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), is the first to be designed and constructed in India.
• Features

o Length: 262 metres in length, exceeding that of two football fields and is 62 metre wide. Around 20 aircraft can be parked in the hangar.

o Speed:  28 knots (more than 50 kmph) and a cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles.

o Built by: Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

o The IAC was commissioned in 2022 making it the most potent sea-based asset. 

o Capabilities: can project Air Power over long distances, including Air Interdiction, Anti-Surface Warfare, offensive and defensive Counter-Air, Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare and Airborne Early Warning.  

o Carrying: the Russian-made MiG-29K fighter jet,

Kamov-31 early warning helicopters,

the indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters and

the MH-60R multirole helicopter made by the American defence major Lockheed Martin.

INS Vikramaditya

• About: It is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier that entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013.
• Acquired from: Russia
• Built: In 1987
• Features: It has an overall length of about 284 meters and a maximum beam of about 60 meters.

o The ship has a total of 22 decks. It can carry more than 1,600 personnel, including crew.

o Displacement: 44,500 Tonnes

o Speed: More than 30 knots and can achieve a maximum range of 7,000nmi.