Indian Navy conducts basin trials of first indigenous aircraft

In a major development, basin trials of Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) were successfully conducted at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) on Monday, marking the entry into the final phase of the ambitious warship building project. Despite the restrictions imposed by the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, CSL and Indian Navy worked as a cohesive team to ensure timely completion of all essential tasks leading up to basin trials of Aircraft Carrier.

Kochi: The basin trials of the India Navy’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), were successfully conducted at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kerala's Kochi, Kerala on Monday.

The trials were conducted in the presence of Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of Southern Naval Command (SNC); and Madhu Nair, Chairman of CSL.

The trials involved proving the ship’s main propulsion plant and a host of other ship systems in the harbour. With the completion of the basin trials, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1) project enters the final phase, with the sea trials expected in early 2021.

Basin trials is primarily aimed at proving the main propulsion plant of the ship in the harbour and is a precursor to the ensuing sea trials. Onboard IAC, extensive trials of all four LM2500 gas turbines, main gear-boxes, shafting and controllable pitch propellers, along with their integrated control systems, were carried out during these trials.

In addition, major auxiliary equipment and systems such as steering gear, air conditioning plants, compressors, centrifuges, all 60 critical Pumps, firemain system, power generation and distribution system, major machinery firefighting and de-flooding systems, all deck machinery as well as entire internal communication equipment were also proved during the harbour trials phase.

NV Suresh Babu, Director Operations, CSL, Commodore Ishan Tandon, Director Carrier Acceptance Trial Team (CATT), Commodore Sameer Aggarwal, Chief Staff Officer (Technical) of Southern Naval Command, Commodore Cyril Thomas, Warship Production Superintendent (WPS) and Commodore Vivek Dahiya, Commanding Officer (Designated) also witnessed the event.

"With successful completion of Basin Trials, IAC has entered the final phase of the project. The Sea Trials are planned in first half of 2021. With focused and committed efforts of Indian Navy and Cochin Shipyard Limited, it is only a matter of time that IAC – the Nation’s Dream – would be sailing the high seas bearing the National Tricolour," the release said.

"The IAC project is also a true example of of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ with close to 75 percent of the material and equipment onboard the IAC being indigenous. This includes raw material such as 23,000 tons of steel, 2,500 kilometers of electrical cables, 150 kilometres of pipes and 2000 Valves as well as finished products such as anchor capstans, rigid hull boats and LCVPs, galley equipment, air conditioning and refrigeration plants, steering gear, RO plants, main switchboards, energy distribution centres, more than 150 pumps and motors, AK 630 guns, chaff launchers, Internal and external communication equipment, all network systems including Ship Data Network, Integrated Platform Management System and Combat Management System. Further, over 50 Indian manufacturers have been directly involved in this project which has provided significant employment opportunities for our citizens," the release read.

Close to 2000 Indians received direct employment onboard IAC on a daily basis and over 40,000 received indirect employment. In addition, about 80-85 percent of the project cost of approximately Rs.20,000 Crores has been ploughed back into the Indian Economy.