Article Posted on : - Aug 03, 2011

An artistic concept of the indigenously built aircraft carrier.

NEW DELHI (PTI): The construction of the first indigenous aircraft carrier 'Air Defence Ship' at Cochin is scheduled to be completed by December after which the 40,000 tonne vessel will be launched, the Lok Sabha was informed.

"Regarding the ADS being constructed at the Cochin Shipyard limited (CSL), 75 per cent of hull work has been completed and is expected to be launched in December 2011, after which further work will be undertaken prior to its commissioning," Defence Minister A K Antony said on Monday in reply to a query.

He said Indian-made warship quality steel was now available in the country, which will reduce the country's dependence on foreign sources.

"With the infrastructure and experience, indigenous aircraft carrier-sized ships can be built at CSL. Now Indian-manufactured warship quality steel is available, which will reduce dependence on foreign countries," he said.

Outlining India's plans to have an aircraft carrier on both the seaboards, the minister said, "To maintain effective presence in our area of interest, Indian Navy should be capable of deploying Carrier Task Forces in two geographically separated locations."

Commenting on the work on the Admiral Gorshkov project in Russia, Antony said, "The refit and modernisation works on board the INS Vikramaditya are progressing in an earnest manner."

"Consequent to signing of supplementary agreements in March 2010, the Russian side has increased the manpower and material resources considerably for the project. A majority of the equipment and systems have been installed on board the ship. The delivery of the ship is scheduled in December 2012," he said.