INS Vikramaditya: Indian Navy's pride is India's ultimate might on water

Zee News' Rakesh Trivedi gets on board INS Vikramaditya and reports just why this fortress on water is considered a massive asset for Indian Navy and for the country as a whole.

Mumbai: The 46th Indian Navy Day was celebrated on Monday with a lot of enthusiasm across the country and one of the most iconic ships commanded a special attention. The INS Vikramaditya is indeed iconic for several reasons and its journey with the Indian Navy has been nothing short of epic.

The only aircraft carrier after INS Viraat was decommissioned earlier this year, INS Vikramaditya has been serving the Indian Navy since it was bought from Russia on January 20 of 2004. The biggest ship of the Indian Navy, it stands at 60 meters high and is 284 metres long. For reference, India Gate in New Delhi is 43 meters high and soccer fields the world over are mostly between 100 and 110 meters long. It is not just its imposing dimensions though that has made INS Vikramaditya the pride of Indian Navy.

First commissioned by the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1987 and named Baku, the ship was called Admiral Gorshkov in Russia before it was agreed to be bought by India at $974 million. While costs shot up eventually, the eventual purchase propelled the country into an exclusive club of nations with aircraft carriers. It was decided to re-name the ship in honour of an ancient emperor of Ujjain and INS Vikramaditya was officially commissioned into Indian Navy in 2013-14.

Capable of detecting enemy ships in a 500-kilometre radius, the aircraft carrier is fitted with air-surveillance radar, missiles and gun machines. It is also fitted with modern communication systems and microwave landing system which enables fighter aircrafts to operate from it even in difficult weather conditions. And thanks to its enormous proportions, INS Vikramaditya is no less than a mammoth fortress on sea - capable of being home to over 1500 sailors.