Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the ceremony at the Cochin shipyards, which was attended by the Ministers of Defense, Rajnath Singh, and Transport, Sarbananda Sonowal, the Chief of the Navy, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, and the Governor and Minister Kerala chief Arif Mohamad Khan and Pinarayi Vijayan respectively, the Millennium Post reported.
The Steel Authority of India supplied some 30 thousand tons of special steel for the construction of the aircraft carrier, the India Narrative portal said.
The vessel has a 45,000-ton displacement, is 262.5-meter-long and 62-meter-wide, and is capable of reaching a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h, 35 mph), being powered by four General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines.
The vessel is capable of carrying up to 30 aircraft, including 24-26 MiG-29K fighters, in addition to 4 Ka-31 air control and early warning helicopters, 4 MH-60R multirole helicopters and 2 HAL Dhruv NUH utility helicopters.
The Vikrant still has a number of preliminary tasks to complete before joining the fleet for operational deployment.
Once it has been integrated, the Indian Navy will be in a position to deploy two aircraft carrier battle groups, one on the east coast and one on the west coast.
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