INS Vikramaditya, The country’s largest and most powerful warship, aircraft carrier, will finally get its own missile shield soon. The Navy will cannibalize an Israeli Barak-I anti-missile defence system from frigate INS Godavari.
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- Under a $2.33 billion deal with Russia, the or INS Vikramaditya was inducted by the Navy in November 2013.
- With 45 MiG-29Ks ordered for another $2 billion to operate from its deck, the carrier is the costliest single weapon platform the country has ever bought.
- INS Vikramaditya came without any integral “close-in weapon systems” for protection against enemy aircraft, missiles and drones.
- The Navy first fitted four AK-630 rapid-fire gun systems on the carrier, and will now install the Barak-I system on the 45,400-tonne warship, which is currently undergoing a short replace at Karwar after a year-long operational deployment.
- The Barak-I systems, designed to intercept and destroy incoming enemy missiles at a range of 9 km, were progressively installed on 14 Indian warships, including aircraft carrier INS Viraat, INS Mysore and Shivalik-class stealth frigates.
- INS Vikramaditya:
- She entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013.
- She has been renamed in honour of Vikramaditya, a legendary 1st century BCE emperor of Ujjain, India.
- She was commissioned on 16 November 2013 at a ceremony held at Severodvinsk, Russia.
- On 14 June 2014, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi formally inducted INS Vikramaditya into the Indian Navy and dedicated it to the nation.
- Vikramaditya has been designed as a STOBAR carrier capable of operating both conventional fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, with up to 30 aircraft capable of being accommodated
