SOURCE: THE HINDU
The Indian Navy’s indigenously built aircraft carrier, which is under construction at the Cochin Shipyard, will be launched on August 12 by Union Defence Minister A. K. Antony.
The carrier will be floated out of the shipyard on August 12 and taken to the repair dock to carry out remaining work. The hull work for the vessel will be over by June next year, by when the ship will be ready for trials. The vessel will be inducted into the Navy by January 2018, Commodore K. Subramaniam, Chairman and Managing Director, Cochin Shipyard, said.
India is the fifth country in the world to design and construct an air defence ship. The yard has been working with the navy for over seven years in building this vessel, he said.
Describing the construction of the carrier as a significant achievement for the yard, he said this was the most challenging task that it had undertaken so far. According to Subramaniam, this is the first time the yard is constructing a warship.
As the specifications for commercial vessels and warships are different, there are only a few yards in the country where both can be constructed.
The shipyard had signed the contract for the construction of the aircraft carrier with the Navy in 2007 and the keel was laid in February 2009.
Subramaniam pointed out that negotiations with the navy for the second phase of the aircraft carrier are complete and the contract will be signed after getting Cabinet approval. The design of the ship is happening along with its construction, so the shipyard is hopeful of delivering the vessel by 2018, he said.
Sources say that the aircraft carrier, which weighs 40,000 tonnes and has 20,000 tonnes of steel, is estimated to cost $4-5 billion.
No comments:
Post a Comment