Aircraft-Carrier INS Vikrant, Destroyer INS Visakhapatnam To Be Commissioned In Indian Navy By Year End

The Indian Navy is set to reinforce its defensive and offensive capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region as it is scheduled to receive the 45,000 tonne indigenous INS Vikrant aircraft carrier along with the 7,500 tonne Visakhapatnam class stealth guided missile destroyer by the end of this year.

The duo will be formally commissioned in the naval force in 2022 as the Navy personnel will test the vessel for its capability before it is authorized for use.

The Cochin shipyard will kick off the final trials of INS Vikrant ahead of handing it over to the Indian Navy. Similarly, the INS Visakhapatnam will be tested by the Mazegaon Dockyards and will then be supplied ahead of the Indian Navy Day that falls on 4th December every year.

The INS Vikrant is powered by General Electric turbines and is slated to carry two squadrons of MiG-29K fighters and 10 Kamov Ka-31 helicopters each. It has a strike range of over 15000 kilometers and it is aerially protected by the Barak surface to air missile, Hindustan Times reports.

Similarly, the anti-ship and land attack BrahMos cruise missiles along with the torpedos for the anti-submarine warfare is the INS Visakhapatnam’s main attack weapons.

The Indian Navy’s capabilities will be additionally augmented through the scheduled delivery of the country’s second ballistic missile nuclear submarine INS Arighat next year.