Why in News?

• Sea trials of India’s maiden indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-1), built by the public sector Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), began recently. The 40,000-tonne carrier is slated to join the Navy as INS Vikrant in 2022.

What is an Aircraft Carrier?

• A vessel that acts as a seagoing airbase with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft is known as an aircraft carrier.

The need for an IAC

• Its induction will give a fillip to the sea control capabilities of the Navy in the Indian Ocean Region. 
• While the Indian Navy currently operates one aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, it is keen to add a third one to its fleet in line with its prospective plan to simultaneously operate three carrier battle groups (CBG) so that two of them remain serviceable on either flank at any given time.
  • INS Viraat is another Aircraft Carrier – Bought from the UK- officially decommissioned in 2017. 
  • INS Vikrant– The first indigenous aircraft carrier– to be commissioned in 2022
  • INS Vishal– proposed to be India’s 2nd indigenous aircraft carrier, is awaiting defence ministry’s clearance.
• Like Vikramaditya, IAC-1 has a STOBAR (short take off but arrested recovery) system of aircraft launch and recovery on the flight deck.
  • STOBAR (“Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery”) is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier, combining elements of “short take-off and vertical landing” (STOVL) with “catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery” (CATOBAR).

 To read about India’s other Aircraft Carriers:  https://officerspulse.com/indigenous-aircraft-carrier-iac/

 Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/maiden-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-starts-sea-trials-off-kochi/article35715620.ece