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![The Vikramaditya has been requipped to carry Mig-29K fighter jets [Image Courtesy: Indian Navy]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Vikramaditya2-300x185.jpg)
The Vikramaditya has been requipped to carry Mig-29K fighter jets [Image Courtesy: Indian Navy]
The former Soviet aircraft carrier was known as the Admiral Gorshkov. The Vikramaditya has been requipped to carry Mig-29K fighter jets. It can now carry up to 30 aircrafts and will have a crew of around 2,000.
The Vikramaditya arrived at a naval base in Kanwar in the southern Indian state of Karnataka according to local Indian media reports on Wednesday.
The aircraft carrier was handed over to the Indian navy on November 16 at the Semvash shipbuilder and departed from Russia on November 26. The process of Vikramaditya’s official commissioning will take between three and four months.
A team of Russian specialists arrived onboard the ship and will stay in India for a year to fix any possible glitches if needed.
The Vikramaditya is to become India’s second aircraft carrier. A British carrier, the INS Viraat, is in operation but is reaching the end of its service.
India buys about 60 per cent of its arms needs from Russia. India had unveiled its first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in mid-August of 2013.
China had earlier slammed attempts to provoke tension between India and China by “groundless” reports about an arms race in Asia.
“It is groundless and shows a lack of good will to use weapons equipment as a pretext to drive a wedge between China and India,” said China’s Ministry of National Defence spokesman Yang Yujun in August.
He was responding to a question about media reports alleging the INS Vikrant is an attempt to target China.
TBP and Agencies
