First indigenous Indian INS Vikrant aircraft carrier to start trials next month.

According to a tweet published by Livefist on June 25, 2021, the Indigenous aircraft carrier 1 (IAC-1) or INS Vikrant heads into sea trials next month. Work on the ship's design began in 1999, and the keel was laid in February 2009. The carrier was floated out of its dry dock on 29 December 2011 and was launched on 12 August 2013.
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The Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh in front of INS Vikrant aircraft carrier (Picture source: Twitter account of Snehesh Alex Philip)

The INS Vikrant aircraft carrier was designed by the Directorate of Naval Design of the Indian Navy and the first warship to be built by Cochin Shipyard. She was floated out of its dry dock on 29 December 2011 and was launched on 12 August 2013.

The aircraft carrier is able to carry 36 to 40 fixed-wing aircraft including 26 fighter aircraft Mikoyan MiG-29K and 10 helicopters including Kamov Ka-31, Westland Sea King, and HAL Dhruv, a utility helicopter designed and developed by the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Ka-31 will fulfill the airborne early warning (AEW) role and the Sea King will provide anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability.

She has a length of 262 m, a wide of 62 m, and a displacement of 39,000 tons and she features a STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) configuration with a ski-jump.

The INS Vikrant is powered by four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines and two Elecon COGAG gearbox. She can reach a top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) with a maximum cruising range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi). This aircraft carrier has a crew of 1,645 sailors including 196 officers.

The armament of the INS Vikrant includes four Otobreda 76 mm (3 in) dual-purpose naval guns, 2x32 VLS (Vertical launching System) Barak 1 & Barak 8 surface-to-air missile launchers and Russian-made AK-630 CIWS (Close-In Weapon Systems) based on a six-barreled 30 mm rotary cannon.