Asianet News Samvad: 'Aircraft carrier Vikrant was originally meant to be Air Defence Ship'

Did you know that the Navy did not scheme the Vikrant to be an Indigenous Aircraft Carrier initially? It was originally schemed as an Air Defence Ship or ADS, but once work began, it took shape as an aircraft carrier, said Cochin Shipyard Limited Chairman and Managing Director Madhu S Nair while taking part in Asianet News Network's special series named 'Samvad'.

To note, the Indian Navy's Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant is scheduled to be commissioned on September 2. The state-of-the-art Vikrant has been named after the country's first aircraft carrier, which had a significant contribution during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

While speaking to Asianet News Network's Abhilash G Nair, the CSL MD said that the credit for the indigenisation should go to the thought process of the Indian Navy.

Watch the full episode of Asianet News Samvad

"India had an aircraft carrier earlier, which was the old HMS Hermes. It served India for long. Then we have the present aircraft carrier -- the INS Vikramaditya, which also came from abroad. So the thought process was very strong in the navy. The Navy drove this thought process (of indigenisation) among the three services. They felt that unless you design and engineer a ship in India -- the navy calls it the float, power and fire part -- they wanted indigenisation in all aspects. So this is the thought-process driven by the navy," he said.

"The Navy did not scheme the ship as an Indigenous Aircraft Carrier. It was originally schemed as an Air-Defence Ship or ADS. Once we started off, it became a full-fledged aircraft carrier. The complete basic design happened in the Indian Navy Design Directorate in Delhi. A complete functional design, detailed engineering -- down to the last detail -- and the complete construction was done in the Cochin Shipyard," he said.

Also Read: Exclusive: 'Aircraft carrier Vikrant can power half of Cochin city'