IAC-1 Completes 75-Day Basin Trials, DRDO In Kyrgyzstan & New Interceptor Craft For Indian Army At Panggong Tso Lake

Basin Trials of the Project 71 Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1), which got underway in mid-September, were successfully concluded at Cochin Shipyard Limited on November 30, 2020 in the presence of Vice Admiral A K Chawla, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Madhu S Nair, Chairman and Managing Director Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). Despite the restrictions imposed by the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, CSL and the Indian Navy worked as a cohesive team to ensure timely completion of all essential tasks leading up to the Basin Trials of IAC-1.

Basin Trials are primarily aimed at proving the main propulsion plant (developed with the technical consultancy of Fincantieri of Italy) of the vessel in harbour and is a precursor to the ensuing sea-trials. Onboard IAC-1, extensive trials of all four LM-2500 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, fire-main system, power generation and distribution system, major machinery fire-fighting and de-flooding systems, all deck machinery  as well as entire internal communication equipment were also proved during the harbour trials phase.

N V 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-1 has entered the final phase of the project. The sea-trials are planned in first half of 2021.

Close to 75% of the material and equipment on-board the IAC-1 is indigenous. This includes raw material such as 23,000 tonnes of DMR-249A steel, 2,500km of electrical cables, 150km of pipes and 2,000 valves as well as finished products such as anchor capstans, rigid-hull inflatable 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-630M guns, Kavach chaff launchers, internal and external communications equipment, all network systems, including ship data network, integrated platform management system and the CMS-71 combat management system (developed and built by TATA Advanced Systems Ltd). More than 50 Indian OEMs have been directly involved in this project. Close to 2,000 Indian citizens received direct employment on-board IAC-1 on a daily basis and over 40,000 received indirect employment. In addition, about 85% of the project cost of approximately Rs.20,000 crore has been ploughed back into the Indian economy.

IAC-1 At A Glance

The ongoing Rs.20,000 crore naval base expansion work—Project Seabird Phase-IIA—is expected to be completed by 2023. Once operational, it will be the largest naval base in Asia and will be the home base for 50 warships and submarines. The number of Navy personnel at the base will increase to around 5,000.As part of the expansion work, the naval air station will come up at Alageri village near Ankola and it is expected to start functioning in 2025. The naval air station will come up in 1,328 acres. There is no need for additional land as the required land is already available with the Navy. In the naval air station, the Navy is planning to construct a runway measuring 2,000 metres for the landing of their aircraft. The Karnataka state government, which has plans to construct a civilian airport in Uttara Kannada district, has initiated talks with the MoD to use the upcoming naval air station for civilian operations. The MoD has agreed to this proposal and it has asked the Navy to add an extra 1,000 metres to the planned runway. The Phase-IIB expansion work, which will begin after Phase-IIA work, will be another big project at INS Kadamba. After Phase-IIB works are completed, Karwar will be home to more than 100 warships and submarines. US-based AECOM is managing and overseeing the planning, design, contracting, construction and acceptance of the entire works, including construction of the naval air station.

DRDO In Kyrgyzstan

In September 2011, the DRDO’s Naval Scientific & Technological Laboratory (NSTL) gained long-term access to Kyrgyzstan’s Torpedo Testing Centre located at Issyk Kul Lake in Karakul province, 250km away from the capital Bishkek. The Centre, previously known as the 954th Anti-submarine Weapons Test Base of the Russian Navy is located at Cape Koy-Sary, has a network of submerged acoustic sensors that can monitor the speed, velocity, homing-in accuracy and direction of any torpedo once it is launched. This enables the developers of autonomous torpedoes to make the necessary modifications in the on-board navigation system and homing sensors to make the torpedoes more accurate and fool-proof. 

The torpedoes launched in the Lake are also recoverable, thereby enabling the developers to make physical verifications of their structures for further studies. The Centre also hosts OAO Daastaan, now a Kyrgyz company that remains engaged in R & D work on new-generation, autonomous lightweight and heavyweight torpedoes.

New Interceptor Craft For Indian Army At Panggong Tso Lake

The procurement of 24 high-speed interceptor craft each weighing about 20 tonnes is being fast-tracked for eventual deployment by the Indian Army at Panggong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh. Originally designed by the MoD-owned Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) as a larger 105-tonne craft with an aluminium-built hull, the craft being acquired will differ, i.e. they will each be 16 metres long, displace about 21 tonnes, will have hulls made of DMR-249A steel, and will be equipped with a COMPASS turret containing optronic sensors, plus a remote-controlled weapon system (RCWS) housing a 12.7mm KORD heavy machine gun. Each craft will be able to carry 20 fully-equipped soldiers. A procurement contract for the craft will soon be inked, with production being equally shared between GSL and the MoD-owned, Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilding & Engineering (GRSE).