INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier arrives

INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier arrives

INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier arrives in the Indian Navy's Area of Operation in the Arabian Sea, on January 6, 2014

The long-delayed INS Vikramaditya, acquired from Russia, cost $2.3 billion and was taken by India's western fleet to a naval base at Kawar on India's western coast.

Originally built as Baku and commissioned in 1987, the carrier served with the Soviet and Russian Navies before being decommissioned in 1996 as she was too expensive to operate on a post-Cold War budget.

At 284 metres long and 60 metres high, and weighing 40,000 tonnes, the ship will be the largest and heaviest operated by the Indian Navy.