Eastern Fleet will have Carrier Battle Group: Vice Admiral

Once trials are over, INS Vikrant will be based in Vizag

The day is not far when the Eastern Fleet, headquartered at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam, will boast a Carrier Battle Group of its own, once the indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant is commissioned into the Indian Navy. Hinting that the aircraft carrier is undergoing rigorous sea trials, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta said that once the trials were over, INS Vikrant would be based in Visakhapatnam. Efforts were on to commission it in August 2022 to commemorate the valedictory of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

After induction, the aircraft carrier might be based in the Western Command for about a year, as a certain infrastructure facility was getting ready here. “But once ready and the ship comes here, we shall have a ‘carrier battle group’ on the eastern seaboard,” he said.

On the capability enhancement of the Eastern Fleet, Vice Admiral Dasgupta said the three Delhi-class guided missile destroyers INS Delhi, INS Mysore and INS Mumbai, would be re-based in Visakhapatnam from the Western Command.