A new naval ensign (nishaan), set to be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will go up on the maiden indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-1) on Friday and INS Vikrant bearing pennant number R11 will be born again. India’s first aircraft carrier, a British-origin ship, was Vikrant (R11) which famously saw action in 1971 and was retired from service in 1997.
What was originally planned as an air defence ship crystallised into an over 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier, and the work was awarded to the public sector Cochin Shipyard, which cut the steel for the carrier in 2005.
The design and construction of Vikrant catapulted India into an elite club of nations – the others being the US, the UK, France, Russia, Italy and China – with the capability and it also paved the way for indigenous development of material – steel to name one — and systems – the combat management system for instance – within the country.
