French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain on Thursday welcomed the country to the "club of nations capable of manufacturing aircraft carriers" and said that France will look forward to seeing Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) 'Vikrant' join France's Charles de Gaulle carrier.
"Congratulations, India, on joining the club of nations capable of manufacturing aircraft carriers! We look forward to seeing Vikrant join France's Charles de Gaulle carrier for one of our bilateral Varuna drills," he tweeted.
The sea trials of Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) 'Vikrant' designed by Indian Navy's Directorate of Naval Design (DND) is being built at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) began its sea trials on Wednesday.
As per the ministry, the IAC is 262 meters long, 62 meters at the widest part, and has a height of 59 meters including the superstructure. There are 14 decks in all, including five in the superstructure.
The ship has over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1700 people, including specialized cabins to accommodate women officers. The ship has been designed with a very high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation, and survivability, 'Vikrant' has a top speed of around 28 knots and cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles. The ship can accommodate an assortment of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, informed the ministry.
The Indian Navy described it as a "proud and historic" day for the nation and said India has joined a select group of countries having niche capability to indigenously design, build and integrate a state-of-the-art aircraft carrier.
( With inputs from ANI )
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