The country’s second aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, being commissioned in Russia on November 16, will be stationed at the Karwar Naval base in Karnataka, a top Navy officer today said.
The 44,570-tonne warship, formerly known as Admiral Gorskhov, is being commissioned into Navy by Defence Minister A K Antony after which it would be brought to Karwar, Vice-Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of Western Naval Command, said.
The ship will take a month to reach India. With the commissioning of Vikramaditya, Navy’s reach and ability to respond in real time to developing situations in our area of responsibility would see a quantum leap, Sinha told reporters in a brief interaction after commissioning the first ALH (Dhruv) squadron here.
There has been huge cost overalls and delay in the delivery of the ship, whose repair and refitting work began in April 2004.
The ALH will be used for coastal security and maritime patrolling besides search and rescue, he said.
India had launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in August, thus joining the elite club of nations with the capability of designing and building a warship of this size and capability.
The ship is expected to be ready for trials in 2016 and is likely to be inducted into Navy by 2018.
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