New Delhi: In a big morale booster to the Indian Navy, an Indian Navy SeaKing anti-submarine helicopter made its first landing on the freshly minted IAC-1 (INS Vikrant) media reports said.

INS Vikrant, also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-1 (IAC-1) aircraft carrier is constructed by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) for the Indian Navy. It is the first aircraft carrier to be built in India. The name Vikrant means (“Courageous” in Sanskrit). The motto of the ship is “Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah”, which is taken from Rigveda and can be translated as “I defeat those who fight against me”.

Though the original plans for the ship were floated in 1989, the design work began fresh in 1999 after then Defence Minister George Fernandes green-lighted the project that had been stuck due to a number of reasons, including financial resources.

The keel was laid in February 2009. It was floated out of its dry dock in December 2011 and was launched on 12 August 2013. It has been designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and is being built at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). Navy sources said the IAC is the most complex warship building project to have been indigenously designed and built.

The biggest ship made in India and carrying a price tag of over INR 20,000 crore, it has an overall length of 263 m and breadth of 63 m. The towering vessel has 15 decks and displacement (weight) of 40,000 tonnes. Propelled by four gas turbines, it is expected to touch up to a speed of 30 knots (approximately 55 kmph). Its endurance is 7,500 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots (32 kmph), Navy sources said.

The vessel can carry up to 1,500 personnel and has 2,300 compartments (in its hull), while a total of 2,100 km cables were used within.