India launches first home-built aircraft carrier

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the country’s first home-built aircraft carrier in a ceremony on Friday.

The INS ‘Vikrant’ (Sanskrit for ‘powerful’) is 262 meters long, and is capable of carrying 30 aircraft and a crew of 1,600. The carrier was designed and built in India, using 75% Indian-made parts. It is the nation’s second such vessel, having purchased the INS ‘Vikramaditya’ from Russia in 2004.

The carrier is expected to be fully operational in 2023, but it will have to share its squadron of Russian MiG-29K aircraft with the ‘Vikramaditya’ until it has secured its own aircraft, with several options under consideration.

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