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Chinese Fujian and Indian INS Vikrant

I. China’s Fujian
 China has recently launched its third aircraft carrier Fujian (Type 003). The Type 003
carrier more technologically advanced than its predecessors Shandong and Liaoning.
The Fujian is China‟s first domestically-designed and built catapult aircraft carrier.
 The Fujian joins China's two other carriers, the Shandong (Type 001), which was
commissione
d in 2019,
and the
Liaoning
(Type 002),
which was
purchased
second-hand
from
Ukraine in
1998.
 Built by
China State
Shipbuilding
Corporation Limited, the Fujian has a displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes and is
equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.
 Fujian, in the southeast, is the closest province to Taiwan, a self-ruling province that
China says must be reunified with the mainland, even by force.
 The Fujian, which is the “first fully domestically developed and constructed” aircraft
carrier with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), has a flat, straight flight
deck and arresting device.
 EMALS functions on powerful magnetic fields generated by electromagnetic induction
motors to propel lighter objects, use fewer resources and recharge faster. EMALS was
regarded by Indian naval experts as a major leap forward by the Chinese navy as
currently, only the US has such an advanced one. It is more energy-efficient and
reduces maintenance. It is also used on the US Navy‟s Gerald R. Ford-class carriers.
China‟s other two aircraft carriers, which are equipped with ski-jump take-off ramps,
the Fujian features a flat-top flight deck.
 After the United States, China presently boasts the most aircraft carriers.
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II. INS Vikrant
 The Indian Navy has taken the delivery of IAC-1, the nation‟s first indigenously built
aircraft carrier from its manufacturer, Cochin Shipyard Ltd. The carrier, which after
commissioning will be called „Vikrant‟, has been handed over to the Navy.
 The INS Vikrant is an aircraft carrier – the largest and most complex warship India has
ever built.
 The motto
of the ship
is "Jayema
Saṁ Yudhi
Sprdhaḥ",
means "I
defeat
those who
fight against
me".
Vikrant
means
"courageou
s" in
Sanskrit.
 The INS Vikrant – the 44,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) – is the first to be
designed and constructed in India. It is currently codenamed IAC-1 and will be called
INS Vikrant once it enters service in the Indian Navy.
 Over 76 per cent of the material and equipment on board the carrier is indigenous,
including 21,500 tonnes of special grade steel developed indigenously and used in Indian
naval ships for the first time.
 Built at a cost of ₹ 23,000 crore, it's designed by the Navy's Warship Design Bureau
(WDB) and built by the public-sector manufacturer Cochin Shipyard Limited.
 The Vikrant stretches 262 metres in length, exceeding that of two football fields and is
62 metre wide. Around 20 aircraft can be parked in the hangar.
 With 14 decks, the ship has over 2,300 compartments with a special cabin for women
officers and can accommodate 1,700 personnel. It has a top speed of around 28 knots
(more than 50 kmph) and a cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about
7,500 nautical miles.
 The officer who will command INS Vikrant is Commodore Vidhyadhar Harke.
 INS Vikrant was India‟s first aircraft carrier, which it acquired from the United Kingdom
in 1961. It played a key role in the 1971 war with Pakistan which led to the creation of
Bangladesh.
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 The original Vikrant was deployed in the Bay of Bengal, and its two air squadrons of Sea
Hawk fighter jets and Alize surveillance aircraft were used in strikes on ports, merchant
ships, and other targets, and to prevent Pakistani forces from escaping through
maritime routes
 It was decommissioned in 1997. Now India‟s first homemade aircraft carrier will carry
the name of her illustrious predecessor.
 The Indian Navy has only one operational aircraft carrier at present – the INS
Vikramaditya. It served in the erstwhile Soviet and, then the Russian navy as Admiral
Gorshkov before being inducted by India in 2013.
 The country‟s two earlier carriers, INS Vikrant and INS Viraat, were originally the
British-built HMS Hercules and HMS Hermes before being commissioned into the Navy
in 1961 and 1987 respectively.

Weapons and Equipment INS Vikrant will have

 The ship will be capable of operating 30 aircraft including MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-
31 Air Early Warning Helicopters, MH-60R Seahawk multi-role helicopters, as well as
the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) built by Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd, and the indigenously manufactured Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy).
 Using a novel aircraft-operation mode known as Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery
(STOBAR), the IAC is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft, and a set of three
„arrester wires‟ for their recovery onboard, the release said

Timeline

Date Event
1999 Defence Minister George Fernandes authorised the development
and construction of an aircraft carrier, 'INS Vikrant', under the
Project 71 Air Defence Ship (ADS)
August 2006 Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash stated that the
designation for the vessel had been changed from Air Defence Ship
(ADS) to Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC)
28 February 2009 The keel for Vikrant was laid by Defence Minister A.K. Antony at
the Cochin Shipyard
July 2013 Defence Minister Antony announced that Vikrant would be
launched on 12 August at the Cochin Shipyard. The ship was
launched by his wife, Elizabeth Antony, on 12 August 2013
February 2020 All major structural and outfitting work was declared complete
December 2020 The basin trials were completed
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4 August 2021 Sea trials finally began
24 October 2021 The second phase of the trials was conducted
9 January 2022 The third phase of the trials was conducted
28 July 2022 INS Vikrant handed over to the Navy
2 September Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) will be commissioned and renamed INS
2022 Vikrant
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Practice Questions:
Passage 1:
India‟s first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant on Sunday successfully completed the fourth
phase of sea trials ahead of its commissioning into the Indian Navy next month. The sea trials of
the 40,000-tonne warship involved the testing performance of the critical equipment and
systems relating to onboard aviation facilities, officials said.
The aircraft carrier, built at a cost of around Rs 23,000 crore, is set to be delivered to the Indian
Navy by end of this month followed by its commissioning around August 15 to commemorate
the „Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav‟. “The fourth phase of sea trials for IAC has been successfully
completed on Sunday during which integrated trials of the majority of equipment and systems
onboard including some of the aviation facilities were undertaken,” Indian Navy spokesperson
Commander Vivek Madhwal said.
The warship is set to operate MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 helicopters and MH-60R multi-
role helicopters. It has over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1,700 people,
including specialised cabins to accommodate women officers. Vikrant has a top speed of around
28 knots and a cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles. The
IAC is 262 metres long, 62 metres wide and it has a height of 59 metres. Its construction began
in 2009. “The Indigenous design and construction of Aircraft Carrier by Indian Navy and Cochin
Shipyard Ltd is a shining example in the nation‟s quest for „AatmaNirbhar Bharat‟ and „Make in
India Initiative‟ with more than [X] indigenous content,” Commander Madhwal said. He said this
has led to growth in indigenous design and construction capabilities, besides the development of
a large number of ancillary industries.
The maiden sea Trials of the IAC were successfully completed in August last year. This was
followed by the second and third phases of sea trials in October and January respectively. During
these three phases of sea trials, endurance testing of propulsion machinery, electrical and
electronic suites, deck machinery, life-saving appliances, the ship‟s navigation and communication
systems were undertaken.
Source: The Print (https://theprint.in/india/iac-vikrant-completes-4th-phase-of-sea-trials-ahead-
of-next-months-induction/1033459/)
1. The Indian Navy is set to commission its first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) INS Vikrant
on 2 September. Who will be the Chief Guest for the ceremony?
A. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
B. Commander HS Rawat
C. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
D. Admiral R. Hari Kumar
2. Who will be the officer in command of the INS Vikrant?
A. Commander HS Rawat
B. Captain Susheel Menon
C. Commodore Vidhyadhar Harke
D. Captain Puneet Chadha
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3. What is the percentage of indigenous content used in IAC-1 or INS Vikrant? ( Redacted by
X in the passage)
A. 70 per cent
B. 73 per cent
C. 86 per cent
D. 76 per cent
4. Consider the following statements:
i. The Indian Navy has only one operational aircraft carrier at present – the INS Viraat.
ii. INS Vikrant was India‟s first aircraft carrier, which it acquired from the United Kingdom
in 1961.
iii. Vikrant means "courageous" in Sanskrit.
A. Only i is true
B. Both i and ii are true
C. Both ii and iii are true
D. All statements are false
5. After 35 years of service, the Indian Navy has recently decommissioned its Kilo class
submarine, _______________.
A. INS Chakra
B. INS Sindhudhvaj
C. INS Sindhuvir
D. INS Sindhurakshak

Answers:
1. A
2. C
3. D
4. C
5. B
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Passage 2:
China has officially launched its [X] aircraft carrier, naming the vessel the Fujian. China‟s state
media said the country‟s latest and most advanced warship was launched “in a short but festive
ceremony” on Friday morning at the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) shipyard in
Shanghai where it has been under construction since 2018.
Once the naming certificate had been handed to the Fujian‟s commanding officer, the ribbon was
cut to officiate the launch and the ship left the dock, the state-run Global Times said. The Fujian
is China‟s first fully domestically developed aircraft carrier, and uses electromagnetic catapults
and arresting devices to enable planes to take off and land on its deck, it added. The ship has a
displacement of more than 80,000 tons, it added. The Fujian will now start mooring and sea
trials.
The launch of the Fujian is part of an ongoing effort to modernise the People‟s Liberation Army
Navy (PLA Navy), which already has two fully-functioning aircraft carriers, the Soviet-era
Liaoning and the domestically-built Shandong whose design was based on the Liaoning.
The Fujian and a fourth carrier, which is also under construction, are larger and able to carry
more aircraft than the two existing vessels. The South China Morning Post reported in March
last year that the fourth carrier might be nuclear-powered.
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said earlier this week that the Fujian
was about to be launched, sharing satellite imagery that showed the dry dock holding the Fujian
had been flooded and pennant flags strung along the ship‟s flight deck.
Source: AlJazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/17/china-launches-third-aircraft-
carrier-the-fujian)
1. China has named its new aircraft carrier Fujian. The name is after-
A. A province in China
B. A Chinese God
C. Name of a star
D. China‟s first navy commander
2. The addition of Fujian will take the total number of aircraft carriers in Chinese Navy to-
(Redacted by X in the passage)
A. Five
B. Six
C. Two
D. Three
3. Which country has the most number of aircraft carriers after the USA?
A. United Kingdom
B. France
C. China
D. India
4. Consider the following statements:
i. Fujian is built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited
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ii. Fujian has a displacement of more than 40,000 tonnes
iii. The Fujian has an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS)
A. Only i and ii are true
B. Only i and iii are true
C. All statements are true
D. Only iii is true
5. The Fujian is China‟s ___________domestically-designed and built catapult aircraft carrier.
A. Third
B. Second
C. First
D. Sixth

Answers:
1. A
2. D
3. C
4. B
5. C