(ANSA) - NEW DELHI, AUGUST 05 - India warms up its muscles with the launch, yesterday, of offshore tests of the first aircraft carrier entirely built in the military shipyards of Cochin, in Kerala.
Vikrant takes its name from the previous aircraft carrier purchased in 1961 by the United Kingdom and decommissioned in 1997.
"With this realization", announces the Navy in a statement, "India joins the small group of nationals in the world capable of autonomously building an aircraft carrier; this a striking example of our design and technological skills, and reinforces the "make in India" policy launched by the government ".
Admiral Karambir Singh added a solicitation to the government to authorize the construction of another aircraft carrier with the same characteristics, arguing that the country's potential must not remain "harnessed".
Vikrant, which has a tonnage of 40 thousand tons and is 262 meters long, joins Vikramaditya, the only other Indian aircraft carrier in service, built in Russia in 2004 and purchased for 2.33 billion dollars.
The warship will only become operational in 2023, at the end of the planned take-off tests of the MiG29k helicopters of the MH-60R.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy sent a task force of four ships to the Indo-Pacific region earlier this week, which will participate in joint exercises with Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Australia and the United States over the next two months. These are exercises decided in the context of an agreement "with friendly countries", he informed the Navy in a statement, to reiterate "the capacity for coordinated and supportive presence, in order to maintain order and peace in the maritime area". (HANDLE).