India’s biggest warship, aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya, which was acquired from Russia in November, has finally arrived in the Indian Navy’s area of operation in the Arabian Sea after a long voyage.
The much-awaited $2.3 billion ship is being escorted by other ships of India’s western fleet and is headed to the Indian Navy’s base at Karwar on the western coast. It is expected to reach Karwar next week and will begin to integrate weapons, sensors and the fleet of MiG-29K fighter jets to become fully operational.
INS Vikramaditya is 284 metres long and 60 metres high – that’s about as high as a 20-storey building. The ship weighs 40,000 tonnes and will be the biggest and heaviest ship to be operated by the Indian Navy. It can carry 24 MiG-29K fighter jets and 10 helicopters at a time, and can sail nearly 1300 kilometres a day.
The warship can operate for 45 days without replenishment and will be manned by about 1,600 people. Just the crew is expected to use over 100,000 eggs, 200,000 litres of milk and over 16 tonnes of rice every month.
INS Vikramaditya is a Kiev class aircraft carrier which was commissioned by Russian Navy in 1987 under the name Baku. It was later renamed as Admiral Gorshkov and last sailed in 1995 in Russia, before being offered to India.
India agreed to buy it in 2004 for $974 million. The cost kept shooting up as Russia delayed the delivery by over five years.
Along with the MiG-29K naval combat aircraft, the ship will have Kamov 31 and Kamov 28 anti-submarine warfare and maritime surveillance helicopters.
The MiG 29Ks would provide a significant boost to Indian Navy with their range of over 700 nautical miles, extendable to over 1,900 nautical miles with mid-air refuelling, and an array of weapons like anti-ship missiles, beyond visual range air-to-air missiles and guided bombs and rockets.
India is also building its first indigenous aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, in Kochi, which is expected to join the navy in 2018-19.
India’s biggest warship finally arrives
