On Saturday, the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya will formally join the Indian Navy and set sail for India from Russia. By early next year, it will be out patrolling the Indian Ocean.
Here are 10 facts about the ship that has cost India 14,000 crores or 2.3 billion dollars:
Originally built as the Admiral Gorshkov in the Soviet Union, the aircraft carrier has been refurbished. It weighs 40,000 tonnes and will be the biggest and heaviest ship to be operated by the Indian Navy
India agreed to buy it in 2004 for $ 974 million. The cost kept shooting up. Russia delayed the delivery by over 5 years.
A fleet of warships have been sent to Moscow to escort the INS Vikramaditya to Kochi. After it reaches India, it is meant to be equipped with Israeli Barak missiles.
The INS Vikramaditya is 60 metres in height- that's about as high as 20 storeys.
It can carry 24 MiG-29s fighter jets and 10 helicopters at a time, and can sail nearly 1300 kilometres a day.
It can operate for 45 days without replenishment and will be manned by about 1,600 people.
Just the crew is expected to use over one lakh eggs, 20,0000 litres of milk and over 16 tonnes of rice every month.
Currently, India has just one aircraft carrier- the INS Viraat, which is reaching the end of its useful service.
The new carrier joins the navy at a time when the Indian Ocean region is becoming a highly- militarised zone.
India is also building its first indigenous aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, in Kochi, which is expected to join the navy in 2018-19.
