INS Vikramaditya (Sanskrit: Vikramāditya, Brave as the Sun)[note 1] is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier and the flagship of the Indian Navy.

[25] On 14 June 2014, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, formally inducted INS Vikramaditya into the Indian Navy and dedicated her to the nation.

The ship would be free, while India would pay US$800 million for the upgrade and refit of the vessel and an additional US$1 billion for the aircraft and weapons systems.

The upgrade involved stripping all the weaponry and missile launcher tubes from the ship's foredeck to make way for a "short take-off but arrested recovery" (STOBAR) configuration,[31] converting the Gorshkov from a hybrid carrier/cruiser to a pure carrier.

[38] The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) criticised the fact that Vikramaditya would be a second-hand warship with a limited lifespan, which would be 60% costlier than a new one.

[39] The Indian Navy Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, defended the price for the warship, saying, "I can't comment on the CAG.

[42][43] Both governments finalised the price of Admiral Gorshkov at US$2.35 billion on 10 March, a day ahead of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's two-day visit to India.

[1] In April 2010, a scandal over the project emerged when it was announced that a senior Indian Navy officer had probably been blackmailed to influence the negotiations over the cost of Admiral Gorshkov to India.

[52] On 1 June 2010, The Times of India reported a naval officer saying: "With India earlier this year agreeing to the revised refit cost of $2.33 billion for Gorshkov after three years of bitter wrangling since the earlier agreement signed in January 2004 had earmarked only $974 million for it, Russia has appointed a high-level apex committee to oversee the work on the carrier".

These trials focused on the main power generation units and the radio-electronic armament systems, manufactured in India.

[57] As completed, Vikramaditya has a larger full load displacement than when the ship was originally launched in 1982 as Baku; 1,750 out of 2,500 compartments of the vessel were refabricated, and extensive recabling was done to support new radars and sensors.

The elevators were upgraded, and two restraining stands were fitted, allowing combat aircraft to reach full power before making a ski jump-assisted short take-off.

[12][58][59] The major modifications were to allow Admiral Gorshkov to operate as a STOBAR aircraft carrier in Indian service, as opposed to the STOVL configuration the ship was built as.

234 new hull sections were installed to achieve the desired shape, and the total steel added to carry out these modifications amounted to 2500 tons.

[12][58][59] The superstructure profile was designed to accommodate the fixed phased array scanners of the Soviet Navy's Mars-Passat 3D air search radar system, along with extensive command and control facilities to conduct an aerial campaign.

Extensive revamp of sensors was carried out, with long-range air-surveillance radars and advanced electronic warfare suites fitted, which enable the maintenance of a surveillance bubble of over 500 km around the ship.

They power four propellers in a four-shaft configuration, producing a total thrust of 180,000 horsepower (134,226 kW) at the shaft, providing a top speed of over 30 knots.

Residential services were improved with the addition of two reverse osmosis plants producing 400 tons of fresh water per day, as well as updated refrigeration and air conditioning.

The Resistor-E automated air-traffic control system has been installed, which assists with approach, landing and short-range navigation down to a distance of 30 metres short of the flight deck to the pilots.

The MiG-29K is an advanced, all-weather multi-role fighter capable of undertaking both the fleet air defence, low-level strike and anti-shipping roles.

Carriage ranges given for the ship seem to converge around 16–24 MiG-29K and 10 Kamov Ka-31 or Dhruv helicopters; however, Vikramaditya cannot operate fixed-wing AEW aircraft owing to her configuration as a STOBAR carrier.

[80] On 3 July 2013, Igor Sevastyanov, deputy head of Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, announced that the warship had departed for sea trials with a mix of Russian and Indian crew.

[24][82] Aircraft and helicopters flew around and over the ship to check the performance of its radar, air defence, communication and control systems, and MiG specialists praised the ski-jump ramp.

In total, the ship sailed for 31,400 kilometres (19,500 mi) during both trials, controlled 778 aircraft and helicopter flights, and conducted 88 landings by Russian pilots.

[83] Apart from her Indian crew, she also carried 177 Russian specialists from Sevmash, who would remain on board for one year, as part of the 20-year post-warranty services contract with the shipyard.

[88] The group was escorted by the Royal Navy frigate HMS Monmouth while passing through the English Channel[89] and was joined by destroyer INS Delhi near Gibraltar.

[105] In January 2020, Vikramaditya was used to undertake the first carrier trials of the naval version of the HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.

During the Harbour Phase from 1 to 4 October, the exercise saw Subject Matter Expert exchanges and other key interactions as well as a Pre-Sail Planning Conference.

[130][131] On 28 February 2017, a MiG-29K aircraft that took off from Vikramaditya had to make an emergency landing at Mangalore International Airport due to hydraulic failure.

[134] On 20 July 2022, a fire broke out during a planned sortie for conducting sea trials off Karwar in the Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka.