LR-SAM and MF-STAR to be installed in INS Vikrant
Credit – Dinakar Peri ( The Hindu)
Cochin Shipyard Limited MD says they need another 45 to 60 days to complete installation process; the ship has undergone five sets of sea trials
With the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant now joining the Navy, its builder, the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has to complete the installation of the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) system, and the MF-STAR (multi-functional digital active electronically scanned array) radar, according to senior shipyard officials. The Navy has stated that aviation trials are likely to begin by November.
“For us, the most important is the LR-SAM and MF-STAR installation and commissioning,” Madhu S. Nair, Chairman and Managing Director, CSL, told The Hindu. “As the Navy would now take over and start operationalising the aviation complex, we would be backing it up.”
Essentially, most of the installation has been completed. “When the flights start coming in, various tuning happen. Whatever is needed the shipyard would be backing it up,” he explained. “Certain other integrations would also be happening and that would also be done by the shipyard.”
“We need 45-60 days to complete their installation and the ship needs to be brought into the dry dock,” Mr. Nair elaborated on the timelines.
